The Miserable Metal Mind Podcast : EP REVIEW: Dead Flesh

Dead Flesh, the Hertfordshire Death Core band (not to be confused with the Jacksonville, Florida band of the same name, who disbanded in 2012) are about to release their debut EP – Dehumanise, and it’s a bit of a bruiser. They state in their biog that their mission statement is to “Showcase the horror of society and mental struggle through disgusting music” something I think they achieve with aplomb.

Over the five tracks featured, the pace changes frequently but never detract from the brutality of the tunes on offer. The vocals of Richard Stevenson are raspy and quite often sound like two different people, similar in my view to the likes of Carcass. The drums courtesy of Michael O’Neill is pounding, but are not just blasters, though there are plenty of those on offer here; sometimes it’s like being pummelled by Mike Tyson. Starting with Born into the Meat Grinder, the riffs come like a maelstrom of noise, thanks to guitarists Michael Worsley, Chris Everett and bassist Adam McGuinness giving the overall sound a solid grounding. The song also has a sublime piece of Gregorian chanting in the backing vocals, which could easily be missed if only casually listening. Sick has a chunky riff that I suspect would really get a crowd going in the live setting.

In Bodies upon Bodies the vocals sound quite processed, almost like they were over compressed to make them more guttural, which detracted slightly, but this is a minor quibble. Swallowing Nails follows, and starts with some atmospheric guitar flourishes, before going into a slower, more groove laden riff, and is my highlight on a strong EP. Dead Flesh finishes the EP, another highlight with a beautiful under tune, almost a background solo behind the chorus, which itself is quite catchy. As someone who loves both Death Metal and Grindcore, this was very much in my wheelhouse, and I look forward to hearing more from this band and catching them live if they play somewhere near me.