Fleshcrawl - Made Of Flesh

Rating: 7.7

Country: Germany

Release Date: 2004

Track list:
1.Beneath A Dying Sun [MP3]
2.Made Of Flesh
3.Scourge Of The Bleeding Haunted
4.Into The Depths Of No Return
5.Flesh Bloody Flesh
6.Forged In Blood
7.Damned In Fire
8.Demons Of The Dead
9.Carnal Devourment
10.When Life Surrenders

Total playing time: 40:38

Band Contact: Fleshcrawl

Fleshcrawl - Made Of Flesh

Sven Gross - Vocals
Bastian Herzog - Drums
Tobias Schick - Bass
Mike Hanus - Guitar
Oliver Grbavag - Guitar

Fleshcrawl much like Mortician seem to have some sort of love/hate relationship with the general death metal fan base. For those of us who don't mind another band with the classic Swedish style and sound, seem to embrace Fleshcrawl with open arms. For those who crave something original or mind numbingly rabid they all seem to jump very quickly on the hateful bandwagon. My response to the latter: I feel sorry for you, that you can't seem to enjoy a simple, time tested style of my favorite musical genre; your loss!

So how does the German quintets 7th full length stand up to the previous 6? Has the band ran out of energy, drive, conviction or riffs that set your house ablaze? The answers are “somewhere in the middle” and “hell no!!!!” From day one Fleshcrawl more than anything has been about delivering catchy death metal. No surprises, no technical mish-mash hog wash, no extra elements or instruments, just driving, traditional and pure death metal art! There's plenty of hooks here, from the opening near epic "Beneath the Dying Sun" to closer "When Life Surrenders" you can count on this band to consistently fire memorable riffs and arrangements at you with care and pride. 'Made of Flesh' would mark the debut for new guitarist Oliver Grbavac (Alien Gates) who replaces one of the last original members: Stephan Hanus (leaving drummer Bastian Herzog as the lone survivor from the initial line up). You'd never know Stephan was missing because like previous albums guitarist Mike Hanus seems to be the core of the song writing (along with bassist Tobias Schick who has helped pen numbers since the scorching 'As Blood Rains from the Sky'). However new “flesh” Grbavac lends his riff summoning skills to create single handedly one of my favorite tracks on the album: "Flesh Bloody Flesh" as well as performing all of the solos found in this release. I would certainly say the new member is welcomed by me-a long time fan and I'm sure will contribute only good things to Fleshcrawl's future.

Also warmly welcomed is the general “darker” atmosphere to this album. Easily 'Made of Flesh' has the darkest undertones since 1997's 'Bloodred Massacre' and the most obvious dark overtones since sophomore crusher 'Impurity'. The production is nothing new for fans of the band either, that burning, massive, chainsaw-esque “Sunlight Studio” style guitar tone is present once again and it STILL rules! The best description of the mix would be a direct cross between the previously mentioned 'As Blood Rains from the Sky' and more recent album 'Soul Skinner'. Speaking of 'Soul Skinner' multiple listens have me leaning much closer to this new one in terms of preference. 'Soul Skinner' offered many good songs but I feel that album had balance issues. For every "Carved in Flesh" and "Rotten" there was a seemingly completely forgettable track. 'Made of Flesh' for the most part fixes this affliction making for a release with more of a flow and distinct personality (bit of a throw back to 'As Blood Rains from the Sky' in that regard).

And now that I'm nearly finished with this review I realize we may have some new fans reading who have not yet been privileged enough to hear this band. Imagine the general sound and style of the early 90's Swedish death movement. Grave, Carnage, Entombed, Dismember; all of the “big names” blended together, give that a VERY heavy dose of traditional heavy metal, toss in a little “doom” to make for depressing emotions worming their way in and out through the riffs and you have Fleshcrawl!

So in the grand scheme of it all is this Fleshcrawl worth the name and money you will spend? Is it worth buying even after you shelled out for the new Dismember, or the cash you dropped looking for old stuff on Ebay?
Of course!!! Fans of traditional death metal should by all accounts enjoy this and as a long time fan I can say while this may not rest among my favorite 3 ( which would include the suffocating debut 'Descend into the Absurd', follow up 'Impurity' and 1999's 'As Blood Rains from the Sky') I do prefer it to the rest of the bands' excellent discography. Highlights include (but are not limited to): "Made of Flesh", "Flesh Bloody Flesh", "Damned in Fire" and "Carnal Devourment".

Highly recommended! Grit your teeth and pump a fist!

March 7th, 2005