Album Review: Fleshcrawl – Epitome Of Carnage
Reviewed by Rich Oliver
German death metal veterans Fleshcrawl return with their tenth album “Epitome Of Carnage” released through Reigning Phoenix Music. These old schoolers have been going since 1987 (originally as Morgöth and then Suffocation) with their debut album “Descend Into The Absurd” releasing in 1992. Only drummer Bastian Herzog remains from the early days but he is joined by returning bassist Manu Markowski, new guitarists Christian Kalbrecht and Apu Justin Reisch and new frontman Borisz Sarafutgyinov (replacing longtime vocalist Sven “Svenson” Gross who passed away in 2021 after a courageous battle with cancer).
Despite a history of nearly forty years, Fleshcrawl have always been a bit of an underdog in death metal despite being one of the most solid and consistent acts in the genre. “Epitome Of Carnage” is more consistency from the band and made up of twelve killer tracks of old school death metal goodness heavily influenced by the Swedish sound (complete with HM-2 chainsaw guitars) as well as thrash influences, filthy grooves, doom-laden passages and even a little bit of melody here and there.
Songs such as ‘Chapel Of Guts’, ‘Reign Forever’, ‘Rebuilt From Flesh’ and ‘Heralds Of Death’ are guaranteed to get heads banging, horns thrown and stank faces pulled. Borisz fits right in as the new frontman with a suitably ferocious growl and the band chemistry is there throughout as even though there are ‘new guys’ in the band, they have been there since 2020/2021.
With three new members in the band, Fleshcrawl have something to prove with “Epitome Of Carnage” and there they do succeed. The album could have done with a little bit of trimming with twelve songs and a 48 minute run time but the quality maintains throughout. There is little originality in these songs but one does not listen to old school death metal for something brand new and cutting edge. These are filthy songs for disgusting people. If you are a fan of old school death metal and especially the classic Swedish sound, there is plenty to love on this album. Fleshcrawl continue to be a remarkably consistent death metal act and on this album they certainly epitomise carnage. Very much recommended for fans of bands such as Dismember, Grave, Vomitory, Bolt Thrower and Autopsy.
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