When I got 'Domain of Death', I was sure I had listened to a band called Fleshgore. When I listened to it, I was sure I was listening to some other Fleshgore. However, there is no other Fleshgore... So I found out I got the band's third album 'Wake up for Freedom' somewhere in my CD mountain. The band logo is totally different, too, so I really had no clue.

That 2008 album was a weird beast, including many instrumental tracks, that were something completely different than death metal, which was presented only on six of its songs. And they were very varying, too (like electronics included among other mindfucks, one namely metalcore). Not knowing anything else about the band's past, 'Domain of Death' was really a punch in my face. This EP is brutal death metal to the bone, just like the band's and the release's names, together with the cover art and the logo promise. No compromises.

Fine cover artwork by Seeming Watcher shows a biomechanical cockroach überlord living in an apocalyptic world, and a nice pair of tits (my guess is: Size G, rounded). Intense performances from this trio are joy to listen to. Tempo shifting, which is happening a lot, happen naturally; they never halt a song. This short-ish EP is a fountain of brutal death metal tricks. Fast sawing, heavy-handed palm-muting, sharp tremolo stuff, open-stringed melody weaving, and even some thrashy riffing certainly offer loads. The drumming is very able: Hard-hitting beats shift to fast maelstroms and again to nifty cymbal drives (damn cool ones!!!!). math-minded calculations and whatnot. The bass guitar is audible, which is of course nice, and it backs everything else powerfully. The vocals are absolutely bellowing subwoofer growling, in vein of John Gallagher of Dying Fetus.

This all results to something like Vader's evil-mindedness colliding with punishing groove of Dying Fetus; hellish vortex of blasting suddenly slowing to a slower groove pile driving. Slayer cover 'Piece by Piece' went through brutal death metalization very well, Fleshgore managing to make it their own.

The self-made production is thick and substantial, yet nicely pierced by cymbals and other things, so it does not clog. It easily up to standards of best Vader album productions, which it heavily reminds about. Heavily indeed... As the band were a trio, some guitar tracks needed to be piled up, but I guess they tried to keep it as low as possible.

The band's three songs here are incredibly catchy for brutal death metal. As this all is executed with skill and force, it makes one essential EP (14 minutes only, so try to find it for a suitable price). And the band continued it like this on their next album, 2016's 'Denial of the Scriptures'...

Rating: 9 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
05/30/2020 14:47