Well here it is. Definitely one of the most eagerly awaited UKDM albums this year. Bristol’s Amputated finally deliver their third full length with ‘Dissect, Molest, Ingest’ five years after their last offering – 2009’s ‘Wading Through Rancid Offal’.
Has much changed? Just a bit and thankfully all for the better.
The biggest difference is new vocalist Mark Gleed, formerly of (Caiaphas).
Gone is the guttural grunting / piq squealing delivery of previous singer ‘Morbid’ Mark. Gleed’s vocals are more in the style of Chris Barnes and suits the music far better and makes it, in my opinion, a much better listen. I can’t fault his performance at all although I’m sure the usual bunch of spotty keyboard warriors will have the knives out and accuse the band of selling out.
Apart from Mark on vocals there’s some other line-up changes too. Also from Caiaphas is Kai Cursons on guitar and Harry Jewell on bass duties joining the ever shredding Daryl Barrett-Cross on guitar and Gareth Arlett on drums. The band have certainly come on leaps and bounds since their last record, gone is the ‘pussy plundering porno grind’ of the first two albums. The band have gigged extensively with the new line up and they appear to have matured as musicians and have found a very natural groove to their slamming brutality.
The album opener ‘Body Of Work’ is a minute’s montage of news clips / documentary sound-bites that, knowing the band, they must’ve loved compiling and it pretty much sets the tone for the content of the record – this intro segues nicely into first song proper – ‘Gorging on Putrid Discharge’ – a metric fuckton of faultless savage groove that’s more brutal than slamming your cock in a car door for half an hour…… but much more enjoyable.
The relentless battery of ‘The Local Flavour’ is up next with some amazing blasting from Gareth leading into some wicked chugging breakdowns. The rest of the album leads on from there and keeps up the high standard. The cleverly written ‘Six Feet Deep’ , ‘Toolbox Abortionist’, the frantic title track – all superbly crafted and delivered with conviction by young musicians at the top of their (sick little) game. The production by George Lever, who has never produced a DM album before, is brilliant and plays no small part in the crushing yet superb clarity of sound so often missing in the death metal genre.
An essential release by one of the best death metal bands this country has yet spawned
(9/10 Mark Eve)
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