Review: “Grand Canvas of the Aesthete” by Suffer

“This new material is absolute proof that you don’t have to “age out” of Death Metal. Suffer was formed in 1989, and 2024 will mark 35 years for us. There is no doubt that this album is the absolute best material we have done together. This is the first Suffer material that was not written by hashing things out in a rehearsal room as a group. There was far more scrutiny in riff, structure and transition as well as lyrics and production. We didn’t settle for what was close. We all wanted this to surpass everything we have done in the past…

To be honest, I really didn’t think we would [release another album]. Most of us have moved on with other bands and projects, family and careers. But, there is something incredibly special to each of us when it comes to Suffer. Something that makes it nearly impossible to just walk away from. Initially, it was preconceived that this was the swan song. We wanted to have one last chance to make a Suffer album that sounded the way every Suffer recording should have sounded. But, this entire process has been absolutely fantastic and I am not sure that we could simply walk away. I am pretty sure that we all have more Suffer in the tank.” ~ Vocalist and guitarist C.R. Petit

At the end of 2023 Sioux Falls Death Metal trio Suffer returned with their first new music in eight years in the form of EP “Gristle, Bruised Spots & Trimmed Fat” and if the title didn’t give it away, it’s best described as a collision of elevated gore and old school brutality. An unexpected pleasure with the bands commitments to both Angerot and Empty Throne these days, there weren’t many who expected them to return so soon with a full length album. For those not in the know, as Vocalist and guitarist C.R. Petit so eloquently mentioned in his quote, the band were formed in 1989 during what was effectively the birth of the Golden Age of American Death Metal and the first outfit to claim the genre as their own from South Dakota. Ahead of their time back then, they helped put Midwest Death Metal on the map when they were just teenagers.

Mixed and Mastered by Andreas Linnemann (Stench Collector, Baest, Hajn) at Hop House Studio and comprising eight songs between five and six minutes in length, “Grand Canvas Of The Aesthete” begins in classical style with the title track. A powerhouse rhythms section pummels you into submission as Petit spits and snarls his way through and lyrical narrative, the guitars as razor sharp as ever as they churn menacingly with Death Groove. After that furious bludgeoning “Ashened Frolic; The Exquisite Promenade” makes good use of a second vocal layer for bark and bite as Suffer give outfits like Dying Fetus or Misery Index a run for their money. Violent and gore fueled the tales of horror unfold as the band play with tempo, blasting their way out of slower, sinister passages with the power of a numatic drill. Majestic leads usher in the pounding “Plentiful • Copious • Bountiful“, a whammy bar moment adding flavour to the demonic cackles. What’s great about it is that the vocals are clean enough to be comprehensible even if they are downright disgusting “pick the gristle from my teeth” poetry in motion. Throw in a solo of real intensity and you’ve got your money’s worth and then some just three tracks in. Taking thr flames of that solo and using them to ignite “Inhalent Caustic Foray” is a masterstroke that you wouldn’t notice if you hadn’t heard the tracks back to back as they were intended. Not so much punchy as stabby, this ripper of a Death Metal tune is one to help you breathe more easily, stuccato riff infestations and face melting soloing elevating it to a new realm of debauchery. It’s almost as if they’ve spent eight years away studying bands like Carcass and come back rejuvenated and invigilated.

The verve and swagger of confidence in what they are doing pulses through the material in undeniable fashion and by the time “The Fetching Cranley Gardens” rears its ugly head, Suffer should have won you over. Another beast from the black depths, the power of this perversion is in the lyrics, the soundscape they’re set to driving them home like nails into a coffin. Slick leads with an almost ethereal quality rise from the black depths of “Carnal Flesh Parade” with an air of “Planets Collide” by Crowbar before the blood and thunder of a rampaging second half leaves no stone unturned in the pursuit of Death Metal perfection. Petit breaths fire in larynx threatening fashion on “Pernicious Precarious Mess“, the rhythmic dynamics a flamboyant display of crushing riffs, whirlwind percussive battery and pounding bass enthralling, the mix having been nailed to perfection. An hilarious introduction in which a Chef is asked about the secret ingredient in his dish opens the gate for the Rottweiler that is “Human Primal Cuts“. Not so much a grand finale as a continuation of the brutally which came before it, the track is another flaming caustic abrasion with the kind of face melting solo that reminds you why they are thing a eternal beauty. You can teach an old dog new tricks but when the old trick is this good, why bother? [8/10]

Track Listing

  1. Grand Canvas Of The Aesthete
  2. Ashened Frolic; The Exquisite Promenade
  3. Plentiful • Copious • Bountiful
  4. Inhalent Caustic Foray
  5. The Fetching Cranley Gardens
  6. Carnal Flesh Parade
  7. Pernicious Precarious Mess
  8. Human Primal Cuts

Grand Canvas of the Aesthete” by Suffer is out 29th March 2024 via Wise Blood Records

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *