One look at the cover and logo style of this French act and most of you would discard this immediately as deathcore but as the saying goes with the book and cover and all that, you’d be wrong like I was, though their description of being a brutal death metal act is false, death metal yes however. Having not heard their previous two albums this is a new proposition for me and the moment the title track sets things off in motion it is obvious that the band definitely likes 90s death metal. Its straight up heads down, beat the grey matter, crush the neck muscles death metal similar to the likes of any 90s US death metal act you’d care to name, especially from the sunshine state. The massive amounts of groove is a dominant factor in the song writing which is a good factor to have in these days of overtly technical death metal. “Collateral Murder” is pure Cannibal Corpse territory complete with bomb blast and those fret widdling hooks the band is renowned for as the crunching groove infests the ear drums like a stampede of elephants on the double kick.
“The Wolf” has a damn fine riff to start it off, nothing special, just catchy and in your face with the vocals barking profusely and uncontrollably but balanced with some nifty tempo changes to keep you on your toes. I also think “Dead Monochrome” is a good tune, with an ear piercing hook and blast start, before hitting the brakes and going for the jugular with a slower more bludgeoning bass drum assault, though intermittent bomb blasts work very well, like a fire cracker up your ass. Albums like this have flown in during 2013 and picking out those that have longevity is no easy task when the heavyweights of the scene continuously prove how it’s all done, but Fleshdoll has enough power and crunch on songs like “King Of Patusan” to thunder alongside and capture enough fans to keep them going for the long term, but I do think the band needs to add something more to their next album to engage with a bigger audience on the world stage of death metal if they are to prove their worth, and maybe shake off the Cannibal Corpse comparisons, which is not a criticism but ghosts of death metal acts of old will always have listeners remembering who you sound like, not who you are as a band and this act has enough talent to do this.
(7/10 Martin Harris)
http://www.facebook.com/fleshdolldeathmetal
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