Intestine Baalism - Anatomy of the Beast
Review: Like a receiver scanning the airwaves of some decades of metal this band adeptly integrate a range of styles into a basic fusion of powerful metals from the Swedish death metal and classic eurometal era Kreator, which places emphasis on the variability of songs outside including within their own elements of consistency. This makes advantageous adherence to a strict format with high variability and inventive continuations where the genre did not go in its defining growth.
Sunlight Studios production accents the melodic guitarplaying here which is used between abstracted NWOBHM riffs and thunderous staccato Tampa-isms which are freely and pointedly invoked to send the listener riding a surge of reaction energy. Some songs incorporate more grinding blast than others, and occasional instances are downright Malmsteen, a tendency which stands out as incongruous but provides a much needed break from some of the extremity. What makes these songs work is underlying blasting death metal with texture and variation for greater impact of its straightforward hypnotic rhythm riffing.
Odd floating melodies that emerge later in the album are reminscent of Cemetary, while the constant blast riffing is Dismember, Entombed and Suffocation fighting for stage space. Although a good deal of this is straight ahead go, there is variation in song structure unified by melody and a sense of rhythm cued to the listener's appreciation of unfolding narrative. Ambitious and relentless, this album designs its own vision of death metal and executes it with style and prowess.