{"id":28098,"date":"2015-04-21T00:00:01","date_gmt":"2015-04-21T00:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=28098"},"modified":"2015-05-19T14:53:57","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T14:53:57","slug":"album-review-gruesome-savage-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-gruesome-savage-land\/","title":{"rendered":"GRUESOME – Savage Land (2015) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

GRUESOME
Savage Land<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nRelapse (2015)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Now, before some of you death metal elitists start getting on your high horse belching and bemoaning that this sounds exactly like Death and is unoriginal, please remember that Gruesome is a band meant<\/em> to sound like Death. <\/p>\n

First and foremost, the band features vocalist \/ guitarist Matt Harvey \u2013 best known for his work with gore grinders Exhumed as well as Dekapitator, among many others. He was also part of 2012\u2019s Death To All Tour in tribute of Death and its founder Chuck Schuldiner. Harvey is joined by fellow axeman Daniel Gonzalez (Possessed), bassist Robin Mazen (Derketa) and drummer Gus Rios (Malevolent Creation, Divine Empire).<\/p>\n

It could be argued of course that Gruesome has been assembled as a direct tribute to the Floridian masters, who pretty much invented the death metal genre. Savage Land<\/em>, the band\u2019s debut, is very much an intentional homage to the early Tampa death metal scene; while the cover art leaves a lot to be desired, the sound is<\/em> very much an ode to Death \u2013 right down to those Chuck Schuldiner-like barks.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t really sure how I was going to handle this opus \u2013 concerned that it would be a pointless exercise in mimicry \u2013 and yet from beginning to end the album is a joy to behold. Matt Harvey and company are fully aware that they sound like Death, except for maybe the solos which haven\u2019t quite mastered the art of Rick Rozz. As I\u2019ve said though, that\u2019s the whole point. <\/p>\n

The title track opens up proceedings, and it\u2019s a fast-paced death metal face-melter featuring that distinctive Death-like riffage and Harvey\u2019s barrage of snarls. The mid-tempo takes me back to those summer days of visiting the local record store to purchase such ghoulish delights as Deicide, Morbid Angel along with Death etc.; the late 80s and early 90s being the most productive time for death metal and the Florida scene in particular. <\/p>\n

Gruesome very much plucks influence from Death\u2019s classic early albums, particularly the Scream Bloody Gore<\/em> debut (1987) and its follow-up Leprosy<\/em> (1988). The slow passages twinge with a menace, and the galloping fustiness removes chunks of flesh from the skin. If you didn\u2019t know any better, you\u2019d think you\u2019d just happened upon an unreleased third Death album before the band started to add further complexity via the strains of Spiritual Healing<\/em><\/a> (1990). This is a record that may actually give the current crop of contemporary artists a kick up the arse however, such is the mouldy nature. <\/p>\n

Okay, so it\u2019s impossible to try to sound exactly like Death and then when you do get close, it\u2019s only natural that on here you\u2019ll hear flecks of those great early albums. Many fans of Death will tell you that the introduction to \u2018Trapped In Hell\u2019 sounds inspired by Death\u2019s classic \u2018Zombie Ritual\u2019, but who cares? This is actually genuine old school metal played for real and more than happy to wear its influences on its tatty sleeve. <\/p>\n

Again, those slower segments are absolute killer \u2013 a perfect soundtrack to watching dusty corpses rise from their smouldering graves. \u2018Demonized\u2019 has hints of Spiritual Healing<\/em>\u2019s technicality, while \u2018Closed Casket\u2019 features some wonderfully morose mid-tempo segments before sprinting with pace into its no frills chorus. The drums of Rios adopt that simple yet effective method originally applied by Bill Andrews who, although not the most technically gifted of drummers, gave Death their solid foundation. The likes of \u2018Hideous\u2019 with its slow, brooding introduction and ponderous doom-drenched avenues is highly contagious, \u2018Gangrene\u2019 showcases Rios\u2019 excellent drum nods and \u2018Gruesome\u2019 comes whining in with an infected lead, deathly growl and gloomy trudge congealed by the sickly bass of Mazen.<\/p>\n

Strangely, the two bonus tracks \u2013 covers of Death\u2019s \u2018Land Of No Return\u2019 and Slayer<\/a>\u2019s \u2018Black Magic\u2019 \u2013 seem rather pointless. I\u2019d have butchered anyone for two more Gruesome tracks, but as it stands Savage Land<\/em> is actually a welcome return to genuine old school values. With countless bands aping the classic Swedish sound and merging as one great mediocre corpse pile, Gruesome has somehow managed to replicate the recognised, classic Death style but make it sound refreshing. <\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s because the scene has become polluted by that all too glossy set of dynamics and our undying need for those vintage glories rises. Then again though, it could simply be down to the fact that Gruesome has crafted a very good, solid death metal record that will have you screaming through bloody, gore-soaked vocal chords.<\/p>\n

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

GRUESOMESavage Land Relapse (2015)Rating: 8.5\/10 Now, before some of you death metal elitists start getting on your high horse belching and bemoaning that this sounds exactly like Death and is unoriginal, please remember that Gruesome is a band meant to sound like Death. First and foremost, the band features vocalist \/ guitarist Matt Harvey \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1994],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-gruesome"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28098","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=28098"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29507,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28098\/revisions\/29507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}