UNDEATH
More Insane
Prosthetic Records
Sometimes you can judge a book, or in this case an album, by its cover. With its garishly grotesque depiction of a bisected decapitated head yawning open to reveal a landscape of gravestones, gray matter and lots of red, synapticooze, the third studio full length from upstate New Yorkers UNDEATH pretty much screams gory death metal.
And with its cavalcade of splatter movie-esquetracks, from "Brandish The Blade" and "Sutured For War" to "Wailing Cadavers", "Cramped Caskets" and "Disattachment of a Prophylactic in the Brain", More Insane delivers all manner of gore-obsessed nastiness, from Frankenstein-like super soldiers to remorseless bounty hunters, parasites, demons and hordes of the hungry undead. Or, as on the title track, just good, old-fashioned murderous rage: "Born to eviscerate / Bred to impale / Bloodthirst turns blood-drunk / Bisected entrails".
Yet instead of stony-faced seriousness or sociopathic malevolence, UNDEATH delivers it all an almost gleeful presentation that while undeniably brutal is surprisingly palatable. The quintet's bluster melds the vehemence and heft of CANNIBAL CORPSE with the spry twists, techy turns and sly whimsy of THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER.
Indeed, the band makes no real effort to disguise the influence of either, to the point where UNDEATH seems willing to sacrifice some points for originality in order to gain some in return for likability. You can lay some of the "blame" here for that on producer Mark Lewis, who has worked with both CANNIBAL and BLACK DAHLIA and pretty much replicates CANNIBAL's steel-edged crunching guitar tone here.
Truth be told, though it's not a bad trade. Instead of the vomitous 'urps and squeals and turgid chugs and breakdowns of so much brutal/slam death metal - and the limited appeal thereof - UNDEATH offers a pile of big, meaty hooks and slashing riffs, crafty tag-team solos, raucous gallop and stomp tempos and Alexander Jones' urgent ursine holler. Combine that with the band's wide-ranging, sometimes unconventional songwriting and More Insane is as entertaining as it is imposing - and never as off-putting as it could be.
Opener "Dead From Beyond", closer "Bones Clattering in the Cave", the title track and "Wailing Cadavers" are surging, chunky and superheavy, textbook death metal done with gusto. "Disputatious Malignancy" and "Sutured for War" are more manic, with Jones' breathless cadence bird-dogging the fleet, more technical guitar lines, a la BLACK DAHLIA's late, great frontman Trevor Strnad.
The real surprises come from the uber catchy "Brandish The Blade" and unusually jaunty "Disattachment of a Prophylactic in the Brain", both of which break from death metal protocol. "Blade" is thrashy and infectiously melodic, while also showing a bit of hardcore punch in its shout-alongs and a hint of grind in its break-neck sprints. It's a wild, chaotic and the most memorable track here. "Disattachment", though, is a close second with its punk rocky vibe at the outset and during the choruses and freewheeling tech-thrash catchiness throughout that recalls REVOCATION.
While both come out of left field, neither sounds like much of a stretch for the band. They fit just fine within the context of the album as whole, too, making for some unexpected, though welcome, variety. And there is no shame in having a bit of fun with death metal, a lesson learned from BLACK DAHLIA that UNDEATH and a few other recent up-and-comers have taken to heart.
More Insane is still pretty graphic and gross - as evidenced by "Sutured For War": "Shrouded by a cloud of filth and flies / Smelling my stench as the enemy dies / Crushing their skulls under my feet / They're killed by a pile of rotting meat" - and certainly punishing. But by forgoing crass or exploitative obviousness in favor of charisma and even a little bit of daring, UNDEATH makes it far more appealing than appalling.
3.5 Out Of 5.0
