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|| Artist......: Deathfiend ||
|| Album.......: Beyond life ||
|| Year........: 2022 ||
|| ||
|| Genre.......: Death Metal ||
|| Label.......: Independent ||
|| ||
|| Source......: FLAC/WEB (16bit) ||
|| Encoder.....: libFLAC ||
|| Bitrate.....: 1130kbps avg. ||
|| F.Rate......: 44.1kHz ||
|| ||
|| Playtime....: 00:25:56 / 220.75MB ||
|| R.Date......: 2024-09-21 ||
|| S.Date......: 2022-06-00 ||
|| Website.....: https://open.qobuz.com/album/yv77fzexakwjc ||
|| ||
|| ||
|| 01. Crypt of Fiend 1:11 ||
|| 02. Rise from Decay 3:53 ||
|| 03. Order of One 3:24 ||
|| 04. Beyond Life 2:57 ||
|| 05. Embrace Your Fate 4:00 ||
|| 06. Myngath (the numinous way) 3:58 ||
|| 07. Cyclic War 6:33 ||
|| ||
|| ||
|| Hailing from deepest, darkest Birmingham are Deathfiend, a trio ||
|| who describe themselves as creating a blend of Old School Death ||
|| Metal and Punk which is heavily influenced by the early sounds ||
|| of Doom and Black Metal. While that sounds like a complex hot ||
|| mess, if you've heard "Atavistic Black Disorder / Kommando" by ||
|| Mayhem then you will understand why the description is one that ||
|| brings that to mind. The outfit comprises John Pickering ||
|| (founding member of Doom, Sore Throat, Cain and Police Bastard) ||
|| on both vocals and guitar alongside Rick Farn on bass and ||
|| Andrea Pisu on drums with Gruesome Records handing the release ||
|| of their debut album "Beyond Life". Recorded by the band ||
|| themselves before being mixed and mastered by Carlo Altobelli ||
|| at Toxic Basement Studio (Cripple Bastards, Sore Throat, ||
|| Discharge) in Milan Italy it was a summer 2022 release which we ||
|| missed and are now putting right... ||
|| ||
|| The primordial sludge Laden "Crypt Of Fiend" may only be a ||
|| single verse in 71 seconds but it provides the sense John ||
|| Pickering is in point of fact the reincarnation of the ||
|| Yorkshire Ripper. Quite why the opening cut is split from "Rise ||
|| From Decay" is an all too common mystery which may require ||
|| Sherlock Holmes to explain as it doesn't need to be, the eerie ||
|| solo lifting and Pickering's lyrics a out dark forces awakening ||
|| adding to the pure fury of the cut. Fast and loose in the final ||
|| quarter it adds to the overall feeling of the record being a ||
|| demo but the quality is actually superior. "Order Of One" finds ||
|| Pickering screaming "I am Death" with a convincing throaty ||
|| bark, the swirling riffs written fuzzy guitar giving it a dark ||
|| Scandinavian vibe before it cuts a little short of reaching its ||
|| full potential. ||
|| ||
|| Title track "Beyond Life" sounds like Entombed playing Stoner ||
|| Sludge Metal covers with a Black 'n Roll vibe in the centre of ||
|| the heart of darkness that surrounds it. Not quite in riff ||
|| worshipping territory but close enough for a celebratory cigar ||
|| and a large measure of Brandy. Dogged and rough around the ||
|| edges "Embrace Your Fate" charges out of the gate like a ||
|| Rottweiler chasing a Pizza delivery boy with 80's Death Metal ||
|| vibes a plenty and a neck snapping slab of concrete groove in ||
|| the centre. A dark joy to behind, it's one that has a timeless ||
|| quality and could have been inked at any point in the past 45 ||
|| years and no one would have batted an eyelid. The frenetic ||
|| Speed Metal ending is a pulverising way to do business but ||
|| worth every penny before "Myngath (The Numinous Way)" opens the ||
|| floor. Featuring a guest appearance from Karl Willetts of Bolt ||
|| Thrower and Memoriam fame, it's a classic mid tempo chugging ||
|| riff affair which oozes class, so much so that it actually ||
|| sounds like a Machine Head demo from 1995 as it brings out the ||
|| slow headbang that you can raise a poison chalice to. That ||
|| builds the mountain perfectly for the Doom Metal darkness of ||
|| "Cyclic War", another old school skull battering but one which ||
|| this time focuses a little more on atmospherics, a spoken word ||
|| in the middle giving the cut an arty feel. All that's missing ||
|| is a whammy bar drop solo on one of these cuts to lift it ||
|| another notch but it has enough about it to hold its own. ||
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