REVIEW: Abated Mass of Flesh – Deathcrusher [EP/2014]
Artist: Abated Mass of Flesh
Album: Deathcrusher
From the darkest, most pitch black depths can come the greatest sources of strength and inspiration. There’s truly a lot to be said for the notion that we, as both individuals and as a collective species, cannot truly achieve our true potential until we have arrived at our rock bottom. In this way, the darkest days of mankind can often be associated with its most shining, gilded ages—enter Deathcrusher, the latest EP by faith driven juggernauts Abated Mass of Flesh. Packed full the most punishing, slam-tinted heaviness that blisteringly fast and mercilessly murderous brutal deathcore has to offer, Deathcrusher levels everything in its path on its way to the listener’s head. What is truly miraculous, however, about Abated Mass of Flesh is that, even in spite of their relentlessly heavy, bone-busting and flesh-shredding aural assault on the listener, their message is one of redemption—such that even the darkest moments of their EP fill the listener with resounding light.
Deathcrusher wastes no time in digging its nails deep into the listener’s flesh and pulling. Rending, searing, tearing skin and muscle from bone, “Immanent Putrescence” kick starts what stands to be the most demanding, intense and instrumentally bombastic fifteen minutes of the listener’s life. Percussion pummels the listener while furiously fretted and insanely lacerating riffs jab away as if it were Frieza and Goku waging war on planet Namek. The war wages, punches giving way to kicks and the listener’s bruised, battered carapace getting continuously ravaged and tattered until all of the sudden, every ounce of energy and speed simply screeches to a stop, lurching the listener clean off of their feet and face down into the dirt. Slam. Insane amounts of shred give way without warning to some of brutal deathcore’s most brutalizing slams ever composed. Case in point? “Carve Away.” Building engaging, immersive and—dare I say—catchy riffs and song structure atop one another as if they were constructing a cathedral, Abated Mass of Flesh shred and blast-beat away, racing along with no indication of stopping until—out of absolutely nowhere, they do, laughing as the listener careens forward, letting momentum carry them into the cavernous abyss of brutality sprawled out before them.
While Abated Mass of Flash’s extreme and incredible instrumentation breaks the listener’s body, the bands relentless vocals snap the listener’s mind. “The Exalted” is one such example of complete vocal domination that Deathcrusher places firmly upon the listener’s shoulders—with an incessant, unending attack of simple crushing vocal density, “The Exalted” gives the listener no rest or reprieve as their sanity drains from their Eustachian tubes and collects in their throat. In fact, what Abated Mass of Flesh lack on vocal variety, they more than compensate for in complete vocal energy, bombardment and oppression. Tracks like “The Exalted” or “Immanent Putrescence” don’t give the listener time to get bored with the one-pitch, one-speed nature of the vocals, as, between the hammering instrumentation and intense inhaled rasps of Matthew Plunkett, the listener finds themselves completely subdued.
Body in shambles, sanity splattered asunder, the only thing Abated Mass of Flesh leave intact is the listener’s spirit. While Deathcrusher is an immense and cantankerous release of sublimely heavy slamming deathcore, it obliterates only negativity and misanthropy, leaving the purest, most devout and resolute bastions of the listener’s soul untouched. Whether faith filled or faithless, Deathcrusher is a universally enjoyable and energetic release that leaves the listener with nothing but positivity—and positively bruised and broken bones, as, make no mistake, while Abated Mass of Flesh deliver redemption, they do not deliver a redemption that comes free of charge.
Positively pulverized, bones broken, mind melted, the listener escapes Deathcrusher—but barely. Laden with raunchy, lurid heaviness and rampaging, unstoppable technicality, this release is proof that death isn’t the only thing Abated Mass of Flesh are capable of crushing; as neither their peers, nor the listener stand a chance.
9.25/10
For Fans Of: Acranius, Sanguinary Execution, Napalm Death, Aborted, Ingested
By: Connor Welsh
