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Album Review :
 Abated Mass of Flesh - Brutal Death

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Artist: Abated Mass of Flesh
Album: Brutal Death
Label: Rottweiler Records
Release Date: 03/12/2013
Reviewer: John Magelssen

Tracklisting:

  1. Mouth of the Tomb
  2. The Killer In Me
  3. Iniquitous Decimation
  4. Incarcerated
  5. Parasitic Contamination
  6. Banishment
  7. Skin Stripped Away

When I was a 16 year old kid, this was exactly the kind of music I wanted to find. Never having listened to “hardcore” music before I was 14, I wanted to find the heaviest music and enjoy it for the simple fact of how brutal it was. One of the first really brutal albums I listened to was Impending Doom’s first full-length album Nailed. Dead. Risen.. Brooke Reeve’s low guttural vocals and the heaviness of the guitars and drums put me into a state of pure bliss. However, after becoming a music major in college, I have become more select in what I listen to. If the vocals are really low guttural, I prefer a more Phil Bozeman from White Chapel sound because he works on diction and pronunciation. This album by Abated Mass of Flesh reminds me a lot of Impending Doom’s first album because I can hardly understand a word without having to look it up.

Brutal Death released on March 12th, 2013 and sticks with the album title by keeping the death metal set up of tremolo guitar riff which leads into heavier and slower chug breakdown and the drums continuously use 32nd note double pedaling. Most of the songs kind of run together and there are not too many places where this EP sticks out besides it being heavier than what most people listen to these days and also excluding a couple tracks. There are not many dynamic changes and the only real change that I can hear is when they go from a fast paced spot to a breakdown at half speed. The addition of sound samples like sirens in the background and a couple of monologues breaks up the EP a little and makes it not seem so bland.

Even though I cannot get into this entire EP like I would like to, there are a couple spots that I really enjoy and I am excited to see this band progress. They remind me a lot of a local band from where I am at and they sound is pretty similar. The lyrics from this short record are what I like most about it. Most of it simply states how bad society has gotten and how we have indulged in it without giving thought. I am very hopeful for this band to progress musically and I hope to get a chance to review their full-length when it comes out. I will give you some details about my favorite tracks from this EP so that you can listen to it yourself and ease into the feeling the band has portrayed.

“Incarcerated” starts off with some 32nd note double pedaling and some death metal riffs along with some Zao sounding hammer on and pull offs from the guitar. The layout of this song is pretty simple, but never really gets tiring for me. There is a guitar that lightly plays in the background about halfway through (just before the sirens) and it adds just enough texture that it changes the sound. The lower pinch harmonics (or guitar squeals for those who do not know the term) make the song a bit more fun and memorable also, giving the chugs from the guitars a little bit more to work with. The drums continuing the double pedal is also a plus because it is my opinion that too many bands slow the breakdowns too much by having the bass pedals follow the slow chugging of the guitars. The lyrics are very powerful and can really hit you with conviction if you let them settle. The song starts out, “Rape the mind. Infect the spirit with images bent on destruction. Fulfill the fantasies of the flesh” and continues to show state how grotesque our society has become.

“Banishment” starts with a monologue and then jumps right into the heaviness with fury of double pedaling and low gutturals. I do like the fact that some low vocals join the main vocals which are a bit more understandable and clear. It also makes the super low gutturals accent the other lows and gives it a bit more dynamics. The guitars follow up their slower guitar part with some death metal tremolo picking in a fast tempo which follows the drums’ speed and keeps the “circle pit” feeling alive. The breakdown that is in this song is very brutal with some extremely low vocals and it nicely fades out into an eerie sound clip.

Overall: Although this EP is a little bland, I am excited to see what this band does with their full-length. There is nothing like a young band evolving and growing into something heavier, but more thought out and less predictable. If you like low gutturals and knowing the most brutal underground bands around, this is definitely a good album to check out.

RIYL: Broken Flesh, Impending Doom, Cephalic Carnage (although Abated Mass of Flesh is not quite on this level, I would like to see them go more in this direction), Bloodbath