Everything about this from the band name, to the cover art and track titles screams out Brutal Death Metal but that is not quite what we get here. This UK act led by Kaz “Stench”B (guitars/bass) & Serpent (Vocals) along with a session drummer and keyboard player is actually of a much more melodic death metal persuasion. Apparently, the London based players have backgrounds in other bands but exact information does not seem forthcoming. Terrified Beyond Measure is the follow up to debut 2019 album A Craving For Flesh, sounds like it could be a bit of a cannibalistic feast here, so let’s grab knives and forks and sit down for supper.

As we press play and fall into ‘The Bottomless Pit’ the first thing that unveils itself is the zealous speed that this lot clatter away at. It’s a bit like an incredibly hooky Children Of Bodom instrumentally, although the vocals are low extreme goblin growls punctuated with some higher slung feral yapping. It’s certainly extreme but it’s more likely to have you grinning than actually terrified as it does not strike as 100% serious. Claims that the band are for fans of Mayhem and Dissection can be dismissed straight away. This is far more accessible and you could even rudely go out on a limb and declare it for fans of Dragonforce and Alestorm such is the impetus of the guitar and keyboard gymnastics on display. This is fast and furious and that does not change in the slightest over the 8 tracks here. The occasionally cheesy melodic hooks and chops of ‘Man To Beast’ hit like an out of control merry-go-round controlled by killer clowns from outer space. Its carnivalesque in the extreme and has serious scope to spin your head and make you so dizzy you completely lose control and throw up. Like anything of this persuasion its easy to have overdosed on this musical craziness after just a few tracks and despite the technicality it quickly becomes a bit samey over the thankfully not too overlong 35-minute running time.

With the title track spinning you right round in knots you would probably break every bone in your legs attempting to dance with this, snapping of ankles resounding as they crack and you fall to a heap on the ground. Ah there’s a track called ‘A Blackened Circle’ add the word Pit to that and this is exactly what you need. This is music for people in fancy dress, trooping away from an Evil Scarecrow show at Bloodstock to flail around on the New Blood Stage and kick it up a storm collapsing into the title of next track ‘Necro Mess.’ All well and good if you are a fresh-faced party goer with youth on your side but an old grumpy bastard like me is never going to see beyond the novelty of Gorebringer. Not saying this is bad by any means but its kind of like an over-the-top cartoon. No doubt they have the scope to go far.

(6/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/Gorebringer

https://greatdanerecords.bandcamp.com/album/terrified-beyond-measure