{"id":17085,"date":"2013-11-04T00:00:28","date_gmt":"2013-11-04T00:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=17085"},"modified":"2014-01-19T21:44:44","modified_gmt":"2014-01-19T21:44:44","slug":"album-review-sordid-flesh-torturer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-sordid-flesh-torturer\/","title":{"rendered":"SORDID FLESH – Torturer (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SORDID FLESH
Torturer<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nVic (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Not another Swedish death metal band, I hear you ask! Sordid Flesh is a sinister bunch, five guys who are very much in that no-nonsense mould of black \u2019n\u2019 roll. These guys have been around since 2011 and Torturer<\/em> is their debut release, and it\u2019s certainly a grower.<\/p>\n

What I like about this nine-track platter is its ability to keep hold of that classic Swedish sound, particularly in the vocals of Fredrik H\u00e5f, and marry it with a more classic metal feel which is cemented by the guitar assaults of Johan Vikholm and Olle Hedenstr\u00f6m.<\/p>\n

There is an air of the bombastic about this black slithering record, and it\u2019s no surprise to hear it was recorded in a large concert hall, giving it a loose feel at times. However, as the band are quick to state, this isn\u2019t merely an imitation in sound of Dismember, Grave etc. The guitars, particularly the solos, have a strong air of nostalgia, hinting at the 70s and more so 80s underground scene but there\u2019s still that level of accessibility too, with album opener \u2018The Thelema Way\u2019 mixing riotous death metal with traditional metal to great effect.<\/p>\n

For the most part, Sordid Flesh is a pacey unit but because of that nostalgic influence we never get dulled by the speed. Imagine Mot\u00f6rhead at their blackest on the galloping \u2018Mark Of The Fallen\u2019 and twin this oil-slick sound with Darkthrone<\/a> and spruce it up with that Swedish quality, and that will go some way to explaining this raucous affair.<\/p>\n

But this band could certainly evolve into a far greater force if they want it enough. The eerie tones of \u2018Rites At The Cemetery\u2019 are the heaviest on the record, especially in that monstrous drum sound courtesy of Emil Berglin. It\u2019s this track which has the strongest live feel, but it also reeks of that late 80s mould, although it could be argued that the groove monster that is \u2018Gravebitch\u2019 is equally foetid in its necrophilia-glory as Jacob Wiberg\u2019s bass forces those rotten skeletons to rise from their dirty beds.<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s fair to say that a number of bands are opting for this dirty death metal \/ rock \u2019n\u2019 roll amalgamation, Sordid Flesh seem to have an edge over the competition simply with their ability to write killer tunes one after the other without too much repetition. \u2018Torturer\u2019, \u2018Where Art Thou God?\u2019 and closer \u2018Rise From The Abyss\u2019 are all toxic shocks to the system, and with enough guidance this bunch of grave robbers could well be attracting the major players. Not since Venom has a band so effortlessly tossed beer cans into a desecrated grave.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SORDID FLESHTorturer Vic (2013)Rating: 8\/10 Not another Swedish death metal band, I hear you ask! Sordid Flesh is a sinister bunch, five guys who are very much in that no-nonsense mould of black \u2019n\u2019 roll. These guys have been around since 2011 and Torturer is their debut release, and it\u2019s certainly a grower. What I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1029],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-sordid-flesh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17085"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17088,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17085\/revisions\/17088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}