Review: “Dehumanise” by Dead Flesh

Completed in sessions with producer Justin Paul Hill (The Five Hundred, Sikth, Hacktivist) and featuring material that has been fine tuned during a run to the semi finals of Metal 2 The Masses for a chance to play Bloodstock Open Air Festival in 2021, the debut EP “Dehumanise” from Dead Flesh is one from the long awaited and  highly anticipated pile. Describing their sound as “Blastbeats and breakdowns. Deathcore with depression. Highlighting the horrors of modern society through disgusting music”, live at least, these songs are the sonic equivalent of falling from tall building; speed and danger increasing rapidly as the seconds pass just before the final breakdown hits…

Seemingly inspired by their American cousins in the likes of Chelsea Grin, Spite and Enterprise Earth, the five piece waste no time in reaching critical mass with the monstrous “Born Intro The Meat Grinder“. DJent fuelled riffs come hand in hand with pulverising percussive battery like Bonnie and Clyde armed with shotguns and evil grins. The mix has been nailed to give the band a dense rhythmic sound to cut against the throat splitting vocals, giving the track a huge weight and gravity. What works incredibly well is that there is a melody in the chorus that carries melancholic overtones but while others would offer clean vocals, instead Dead Flesh offer shriller uncleans, touching on a Symphonic Deathcore sound in a similar vein to bands like Draconian Reign. After that savage chest bursting of an opening cut, there is momentary respite with the swirling introduction of “Sick” before the band once again go all out brutal. Like a prize fighter for whom the red mist has descended, Dead Flesh keep punching and punching over and over again until nothing remains. That’s how restless and relentless their sound is. Blast beats raise the tempo before breakdowns hit like being broadsided by a truck, staccato riff breaks feel like machine gun fire and all the while the flames of the venomous vocals sear the flesh of the ear canals. Not for the faint of heart or the weak of mind, this cathartic release is one hell bend on pure unadulterated annihilation.

Sparing the introduction, “Bodies Upon Bodies” finds Dead Flesh bringing in the vocals within the first few seconds, the blistering pace and dark energy in what they create as infectious as a virus. It makes them an unstoppable force, a bulldozer that destroys everything in its path, the Symphonic overtones returning to the chorus as the track title is chanted over and over again. In the minds eye the abject horror of the lyrical narrative is incredible and you can picture how the band could embellish cuts like this with keys to make them sound bigger, bolder and more cinematic perhaps with the help of someone like Anabelle Iratni (ex-Cradle Of Filth, Demonstealer), they’re certainly evil enough as they are. Slowing things down while increasing the intensity “Swallowing Nails” hits like a concrete slab to the skull. Vocally there are Gothic overtones in the lethal uncleans which help push a scream-a-long chorus which is partially buried by the weight of the sound; all of this however is just build up to the gut punch in the final third as the band step things up dramatically. Introspective but far from Nu, at this point in time this band are a blood bath waiting to happen. Which came first the song “Dead Flesh” or the band Dead Flesh? Does it matter when they both sound incredible? Dark  and atmospheric this skull crushing finale has a chantable chorus that commands fists in the air. The rumbling bass is tectonic plate shifting on its own, the thunderous drum sound a call to run for cover as the guitars slice and dice. Brutal to the very last note, this record is everything Deathcore should be [8/10]

Track Listing

1. Born Intro The Meat Grinder
2. Sick
3. Bodies Upon Bodies
4. Swallowing Nails
5. Dead Flesh

“Dehumanise” by Dead Flesh is out 28th April 2024 and is available over at bandcamp.