New flesh to the death metal arena! Finland's Fleshkraft are a relatively young band, being formed in 2003, and having released just one demo prior to this debut album. 'First Harvest' is a self-release, so in a way this is a demo I guess, because the band are hunting down a record deal.

Fleshkraft are carving some austere death metal, that is devoid of modern foolery. Being spartan does not mean boring. The band rouse a whirlwind of ripping riffage and varying beats that brings something like mid-90s Sinister being mated with Cannibal Corpse from the same era. The songs are capable of maintaining their tension well, without any obtrusive melody work, if you don't count the final song's few seconds. It is simply jagged pummeling from the beginning till the end without remorse. It might not sound much on the paper, but there's surprisingly big variety of beats and riffs to be found during this 34 minutes. The band's balls-on-a-block-and-some-hefty-hammer-on-'em mentality can be sensed. And when it all is vigorously and elaborately performed, I got no complaints. The sound is leaden and rusty, really vibrating, but still on a demo level.

So, do Fleshkraft survive the abominable death metal arena? Yes they do, but they got beginner's luck this time. Expect to see a reissue of this sometime in the near future, when a label have signed these fellas. They surely have shitload of potential, if pure death metal is the motif, because they surely have no originality.

Rating: 6 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/19/2009 20:44