Fleshgrind - Murder Without End
2003 - Olympic Recordings
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Olympic Recordings website.
Chicago's Fleshgrind have been purveying their take on brutal, Cannibal Corpse like death metal for nigh on a decade now, and their latest release 'Murder Without End' is an admirably solid, if overall uninspiring, addition to the rest of their catalogue. Beginning with a mellow, piano introduction, Fleshgrind then proceed to blast into ten tracks of high velocity death metal which, sadly, lack individuality and seem to blur into each other without really leaving anything particularly memorable to ponder over.
The production is very clear and suitably brutal (although my feeling is that the guitars could have been a lot chunkier and bassy), and the performances from the musicians are never less than flawless. The well-timed drum rolls and rhythm changes serve to distinguish each riff from the next, and the vocals are very much in the 'Corpsegrinder' vein. The problem lies within the songwriting - while the riffs are brutal and technical in equal measure, they aren't particularly memorable - while, for instance, the main riff to Monstrosity's 'The Exordium' or Cannibal Corpse's 'Severed Head Stoning' have recently stuck in my mind, no part of 'Murder Without End' has taken the same kind of hold on me.
All in all, this is a workmanlike death metal album - enjoyable if unspectacular for it's duration, but an ultimately forgettable experience. Buy it only if you're a severely dedicated death metal collector or an obsessive fan of the style.
6/10
2003 - Olympic Recordings
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Olympic Recordings website.
Chicago's Fleshgrind have been purveying their take on brutal, Cannibal Corpse like death metal for nigh on a decade now, and their latest release 'Murder Without End' is an admirably solid, if overall uninspiring, addition to the rest of their catalogue. Beginning with a mellow, piano introduction, Fleshgrind then proceed to blast into ten tracks of high velocity death metal which, sadly, lack individuality and seem to blur into each other without really leaving anything particularly memorable to ponder over.
The production is very clear and suitably brutal (although my feeling is that the guitars could have been a lot chunkier and bassy), and the performances from the musicians are never less than flawless. The well-timed drum rolls and rhythm changes serve to distinguish each riff from the next, and the vocals are very much in the 'Corpsegrinder' vein. The problem lies within the songwriting - while the riffs are brutal and technical in equal measure, they aren't particularly memorable - while, for instance, the main riff to Monstrosity's 'The Exordium' or Cannibal Corpse's 'Severed Head Stoning' have recently stuck in my mind, no part of 'Murder Without End' has taken the same kind of hold on me.
All in all, this is a workmanlike death metal album - enjoyable if unspectacular for it's duration, but an ultimately forgettable experience. Buy it only if you're a severely dedicated death metal collector or an obsessive fan of the style.
6/10
