Gorefest
La Muerte
7
There is just not that much that is being done in death metal to move it forward. The really great stuff in the last few years has almost entirely been retro to the basic formulas we all know like the backs of our fists. And yet when it comes to us in anything other than the way we learned to love it, we whine like a seven year old who gets a Clown at his birthday party instead of a Ninja. Some musical styles just belong the way we know them. I don’t apologize for it. I don’t defend it either. By rights the style should be as dead and corny as Warrant and Ratt hair metal. But, somehow, growing at a glacial pace, if that, the style endures, and when whatever current faddish style finally wears itself out you will find Death Metal, same as it ever was, waiting with nothing more or less than new compositions and new recording techniques in the same old styles.
And by all the lords of chaos, necroticism and sacrilege, Gorefest is here to show you just how fucking satisfying that same old style can be. Fucking VERY. In the vein of Entombed circa Wolverine Blues, Gorefest makes moist, rich and delicious Death Metal with plenty of riff and just enough melody to make you attend the infectious songwriting without beating you to death with it. They will leave that for the rhythm section. Mixing a little blast with a lot of mid to fast tempos, the band understands why we Deathfucks keep seeking out what we have heard before. And nothing screams "My FUCK this shit STILL Rulez!!!" more than the trudging, crushing riff that ushers in "Rogue State".
Both production and musicianship are great. The record rumbles and shakes, but doesn’t overpower with low and high end. There is plenty of midrange in the guitars. Clarity for the mix as a whole means you can appreciate each instrument. All the players are up to scratch. The singer is very reminiscent of Napalm Death and Bolt Thrower from their heydays with more of a guttural shouter than burping cookie monster. The songs are not meant to be technical showcases. They are meant to pound things into jelly. You can find tasty soloing, and some interestingly tricky passages, but mainly this is music to hurt to, and that’s precisely what happens.
Bottom line: I don’t want to pretend like it’s OK for me to love this record when I dump so fucking hard on other bands in other styles for doing worn out used up music. It’s not. And my score in songwriting reflects this. For a death metal band it’s great shit, and if you are like me and just fucking kill for it when it’s done right, add one and a half to that score. But I will say this: some musical styles just live "as is". They don’t need fundamental change to stay vital. Folkies and Rootsies don’t apologize. Hard rockers don’t. Funk fans. Blues. I love Death Metal too much to say if it falls into this rarified musical territory or if I am just a simple Deathfuck living in the past. What I do know is that Gorefest delivers Death Metal the way it should be, if it should be at all. My fellow grumpy old bastards need this fucker in their collection.
Related
GorefestRise To Ruin
9/25/2007