I was quite taken with Fleshdoll’s fourth album “Blood Red District” when I reviewed it a couple of years ago so was chuffed to get this CD through the post and even more chuffed to hear it was an album of the same quality death metal as the previous effort.

These Frenchies know their shit and this is eleven tracks of prime, chunky French beef….. or is it horse? Anyway I like this band. Technical without being overly flash and melodically brutal, Fleshdoll have a sound all of their own.

Beginning with “Silent Faces Of Stone” the first thing I noticed was the fatter sound. The production & mix is far better than the previous album with Michael’s drums sounding totally concusive. The riffing and leads of Chili & Billy (oh, come on now) are stellar throughout the record, the leads especially.

There are ten original tracks on here plus a storming cover of Testament’s “Into The Pit” which, while not being required, is still a fun blast.

Musically the band are ducks-arse tight and each individual brings something to the party but the overall sound is kind of like I’d imagine Vader sounding if they were playing Vital Remains songs with some tasty atmospheric elements thrown in for good measure.

Another decent album from Fleshdoll, and as the French say, “Frappe mon singe”

(8/10 Mark Eve)

https://www.facebook.com/fleshdolldeathmetal

https://fleshdoll.bandcamp.com/track/at-the-heart-of-darkness