Sometimes a band name fits so fucking perfectly... Severe Torture's brutal blasting death metal can be a severe torture session lasting for loooong 32 minutes (yep, in this case it's that way), even to any hardened deathhead who think they are into real brutal and fast stuff.

The carnage begins immediately, as there is no synth or horror movie clip intro. Severe Torture's tactics have roots in North American death metal, mainly it is the name of Cannibal Corpse that comes to my mind, because of that bubbly gut-wrenching bass playing style, and some similar style riffage (just check out 'Meant to Suffer'). But the blast... There's no tranquil rhythms on offer, as it's blast beat or double kick drumming almost all the fucking way. The songs are built quite well, as there is usually enough variation in vein of tempo changes between different parts. And this keeps a listener's interest alive, but I wouldn't spin this many times in a row. Just don't expect anything new here, but the performance lifts this way above the gray mass. Words are hate of religions and gory stuff combined (just like the brutal cover art), performed with real low growls and occasional shrieks.

The production is simply awesome! I mean this is both organic and fucking clear. The only thing that happens, and only seldom, is that snare drum gets buried by everything else. Not totally, and maybe the drummer is so fucking busy doing everything else at same time, heh. The drums aren't triggered, so that's just normal thing that can happen to a flesh 'n' bone drummer on these agile velocities.

So, Severe Torture's sophomore album is what the band's name says. The one to grab by all blasting death metal fanatics, or then by those who want it really extreme. Fuck, my ears ring now!

Rating: 7½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
09/05/2007 13:26