Formed in 2018 and from Rochester New York Undeath have certainly made a name for themselves in the Death Metal scene. I’ve always seen them in the same league as the likes of Gatecreeper, 200 Stab Wounds and Frozen Soul as another sort of figurehead of the modern wave of Death Metal. Less ‘trve’ than perhaps Hyperdontia, Tomb Mold or Blood Incantation but certainly paving the way for the more abrasive side of Death Metal, and to me Death Metal is Death Metal, let’s not split hairs. Their debut Lesions Of A Different Kind was certainly an explosive record to drop on the scene as was their previous effort It’s Time...To Rise From The Grave. Now however it’s time for the third full length put out through Prosthetic Records, More Insane.
Dead From Beyond kicks things off with a marching band drum styling and sample before going into some truly metallic drumming and Death Metal laced guitars. Finally, in crash the vocals, traditional Death Metal sounding with a slight Thrash edge I would say. The song is reasonably hook heavy with its chorus too which is always a massive perk for me, particularly in Death Metal. The title track follows and more of those Cannibal Corpse style riffs keep the song from straying from anything else but Death Metal, and in a similar vein to Corpse there’s a layer of melody ensuring the songs retain an air of memorability. Brandish The Blade has some serious power and speed behind it, straying even into Grind notions at points, I also adore the vocals in this track, some top notch variation and whilst it’s a song that plays with a number of genres it doesn’t feel cluttered and remains Death Metal at its core. Following on is Disputatious Malignancy another rapid fire banger with some tortured and crazy vocals, honestly the vocals and drums really make this album but the whole package is sublime. Sutured For War has some nice little bits here and there but mostly I guess it’s the point where I’m getting comfortable with the album and so the shimmering highlights of before start to dwindle a touch, that said as a standalone song I think it’s a big banger.
Onward to Cramped Caskets (Necrology) next, some more quality drumming keeps this one afloat and the slower pace is a welcome break from the frantic nature of some prior tracks. This song has a great headbanging flow to it that I really appreciate. Bounty Hunter continues to slow things down and has some fantastic vocal hooks, possibly a highlight from the album it has to be said. Wailing Cadavers passes without incident really, maybe one of the fillers of the album it has to be said. Injecting something a bit more interesting is Disattachment Of A Prophylactic In The Brain which has this particularly unique and dare I say fun riff that hits just right, one of my favorite guitar parts from the record. Finally rounding off the album is Bones Clattering In The Cave which I appreciate for the fact it doesn’t tread new ground and try to be some ‘epic’ outro song, that kind of thing works on occasion and this is not one such occasion. It’s bare bones (see what I did there), basic as you like Death Metal but it’s pretty bloody good.
In all honesty that’s basically what this album represents, pure, unabashed, plain and simple Death Metal, New York style. I think a lot of older Death Metal fans (yes, I’m going to include myself in that) are disillusioned a bit by the new wave of modern forefront running Death Metal because quite frankly we’ve heard it all before. That’s not to say that this stuff can’t be enjoyed too though. Take some time no matter the genre to reflect on your scene and listen to new stuff because as easy as it is to stick to the same five albums for eternity you’ll always be missing out on something. I can’t say I’m wildly blown away by much of this modern wave myself (save for Frozen Soul, my god are they good) but I don’t think it’s at all bad and for sure this album is a big step up for Undeath, they’ve certainly cemented a fan out of me with this one.
(8/10 George Caley)
Leave a Reply