“Think Arsis meets Dissection” — with reminders of “Necrophagist, AngelCorpse, Obscura, Revocation, and Emperor“. When I saw that list of names in the PR recommendations for the debut album by Boston-based Unflesh, it took little else to kindle the fires of intrigue, though the album artwork by Junki Sakuraba certainly added a spark as well.
As it turns out, the music of Savior really does justify such an august group of references, just as it demonstrates both an evolution and an advance beyond the music of the band’s first EP, Transcendence to Eternal Obscurity. As the band’s founder Ryan Beevers accurately observes, the new album “is a lot darker and more aggressive than our previous EP”. And as a prime example of the new heights Unflesh have reached through their integration of technical death metal and black metal, we have the premiere of a track called “The Eradication Commenced” in advance of the album’s May 25 release date.
As noted, Unflesh was founded by Ryan Beevers, who has also been a key participant in the New Hampshire-based death metal band Solium Fatalis and is now also a student at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Initially Unflesh was his solo project, and so he composed and performed everything on that first EP — with aid from the great Hannes Grossmann (Alkaloid, ex-Obscura, Blotted Science, Howling Sycamore) on session drums.
By the time Savior was recorded, Unflesh had a full line-up, consisting of Ryan Beevers performing vocals and guitar, with Chris Dovas on drums, Peter De Reyna on bass, and Chris Gardino on guitar. As you’ll discover, the new compositions of Unflesh require a high level of technical skill, and that’s exactly what the new line-up brought to the table.
“The Eradication Commenced” is mostly blazing fast, brain-twisting in its intricacy, and savage in the intensity of its attack. It floods the senses with jet-fueled (but frequently changing) drumwork, nimble bass lines, and complex dual-guitar machinations, with Beevers‘ flesh-flensing black-metal rasps enhancing the ferociousness of the music.
Bursts of rapid-fire instrumental jabbing, bending angular riffs, and moody digressions lend a semblance of order to chaos, while the fascinating guitar pairings further amplify the music’s intriguing allure (only one example of which is the combination of eerie, dissonant leads over the darting notes of the second guitar).
The song thus satisfies on multiple levels, and provides an electrifying introduction to this new album.
Pre-orders for Savior are now live via the links below. And in addition to our premiere of “The Eradication Commenced“, we’re also including a stream of the previously released track “Bestowal of Decay“.
Pre-order:
https://unflesh.bandcamp.com/album/savior
https://www.unfleshband.com/shop
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Unflesh/