Artist: Defleshed
Label: Pavement
Release Date: 3/8/00
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Title: Fast Forward Artist: Defleshed Label: Pavement Release Date: 3/8/00 |
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Abyss's Review:
Put Defleshed in the category of bands that are still finding new things to do with death metal. Many death metal purists may detest this record as a too-diluted version of their beloved genre, but I think it's damn refreshing. Defleshed take the concept of death/thrash one step further, infusing a death 'n roll type sound, but avoiding the same mistakes that other bands have made when they went that route. First of all, they've kept it heavy. Deceptively heavy even. I was actually a couple of tracks into this disc before I realized how far they strayed from the traditional death metal path. What I mean by that is that the music comes across as heavier than it actually is, perhaps it's attitude, and perhaps not, but as I was listening to driving death blastbeats, I was shocked to realized that I was hearing power chords layered on top of them. On the better songs this death warmed over style is very effective, and on the weaker songs is just unimpressive.
"Defleshed take the concept of death/thrash one step further, infusing a death 'n roll type sound, but avoiding the same mistakes that other bands have made when they went that route." The vocals and rhythm section betray the fact that these boys seem a little closer to the death than the roll, a point that is also emphasized by the fact that some of the songs seem to be built around bland riffs, which suggests that this band may want to stick to what it does best, and not try to force a sound that's not there. "Proud to be Dead" showcases the fact that they can put this style together quite well, but "The Heat From Another Sun" sounds a little forced. Not bad, mind you, just the realization of a song that was never really there in the first part. And that's the basic gist of this album. The great moments are awesome, but there are some boring ones as well.
One other criticism is that the guitar sound on every song is way too similar. This is by far my biggest pet peeve of the extreme metal scene. Many bands find a cool guitar sound and center their entire album around it. Quick note of advice: experimenting with different sounds isn't just for Mr. Bungle, I believe you can be brutal and different at the same time.
"Quick note of advice: experimenting with different sounds isn't just for Mr. Bungle." Whenever I think of a good category to place this band in, I never seem to hit the nail on the head. They remind me a little of Deceased, but they seem more influenced by the European death scene, rather than the American one. Definitely worth checking out.
Rating Revised for Metal Judgment Anniversary
Death's Review:
Cool, riffy, old-style metal. Basically death-thrash, with a modern update. At once evoking Kreator, Destruction, Carcass and At the Gates, Defleshed use razor-sharp riff attacks to stalk their sonic prey. Fast and thrashy, yet tight, controlled and down-tuned heavy, Defleshed is an excellent example of the fact that neo-death bands can shred, they just usually don’t bother to try to. Fortunately, Defleshed do, and it works.
"Defleshed use razor-sharp riff attacks to stalk their sonic prey." Lots of newer bands have a thrash element mixed in, Witchery and the Haunted come to mind as examples. But these bands embrace thrash’s wild abandon and loud, angry "retro" attack. When Defleshed sound thrashy -- they sound violent.
The album blows the face off the listener from track number one. With a precision attack and unrelenting tempo, the awesome "The Return of the Flesh" sounds like it could be "the fast opener" on any number of instant thrash classics. And the entire record has a bit of an overall Destruction feel, particularly in Gustaf Jorde’s vocals which are very cool.
"Defleshed is an excellent example of the fact that neo-death bands can shred, they just usually don't bother to try to. Fortunately, Defleshed do, and it works." Unfortunately, there isn’t enough variety in Defleshed to make the record a classic. Rather, it is what it is, a more than solid collection of neck-snappingly fast, modern death-thrash. Recommended.
Hel's Review:
There’s only one way I can start this review. By quoting from their website info page: "DEFLESHED PLAYS SOLID METAL EXCLUSIVELY!" This is the first thing you need to know about Defleshed. The rest is all common sense. But I’ll walk you through it anyway.
There are amazingly fast, incessant drum beats. Riffs that are also fast, driving, incessant. What kind of vocals would you expect to go with the music just described? If you answered, "death," you’re getting the idea. If you think that sounds like an appealing combination, you should definitely hear this album.
"DEFLESHED PLAYS SOLID METAL EXCLUSIVELY! This is the first thing you need to know about Defleshed. The rest is all common sense." No question, there’s a lot of heavy metal fun to be had on Fast Forward. A couple of my favorites are "Feeding Fatal Fairies" and "Domination of the Sub-Queen." Frankly, I didn’t have enough time to spend when I discovered the lyrics on the official Defleshed website, so I have no idea if the lyrics actually make sense. I glanced over them, and they were pretty nonsensical, I still don’t feel that I know what fatal fairies are or what a sub-queen is, but that’s all right. One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about death metal vocals is that you can understand them if you want to, and if it really doesn’t matter to you, that’s just plain easy.
The major drawback of this album (which, of course, is pretty poorly produced) is that you must listen to it LOUD to get a clear picture of what Defleshed really are like. When I turn the volume on my stereo below a certain level, ½ the sound simply goes away. It’s as if ½ the album’s gone. Very upsetting. And I’ve got this bitch of a neighbor...
"The major drawback of this album is that you must listen to it LOUD to get a clear picture of what Defleshed really are like." But I digress. The point of today’s ravings is that you really should check this one out if you like your music fast, brutal, and unforgiving. Fast forward (Ha!) to the internet and surf yourself up a copy. Or there’s probably a link up at the top of this page for you to click on... Either way, it’s a damn fine album and I’m betting your local chain record store never heard of it. It’s worth an extra five minutes or so to put your hands onto.
Rating Revised for Metal Judgment Anniversary
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