Review Summary: I love the way you write riffs
Spite have become notorious for their chunky hardcore-influenced riffs, over-the-top deathcore vocal dynamics and chaotic pounding rhythm sections. “Dedication to Flesh” sees all these elements being pushed to new heights introducing their most cohesive and consistent record to date. Both “Nothing Is Beautiful” and “The Root of All Evil” were solid releases featuring a similar energy and dynamic, but the songwriting faltered at times and proved a bit watered down in comparison to contemporaries in the genre.
If you’re looking for rip-roaring chaos, look no further than the absolute crushing opener “Lord of the Upside Down.” Lyrically, it’s fairly standard territory for heavy music with charged and aggressive themes like death, hate, violence, depression, anger towards the world, etc. Lyrics like “I can no longer withstand the sight of my creation/spiral into darkness/I paint a brand-new image” are indicative of the sort of patterns and themes that transpire throughout the course of the runtime. Like I mentioned, it’s fairly standard and doesn’t break new ground but Dars’ delivery of these lines is what sells the passion.
Dars is one of the most versatile death metal vocalists in the scene today ranging from throaty gutturals to a hardcore-style yell/scream. He puts his every ounce of blood, sweat and tears into making sure the listener is thoroughly convinced of his rage and passion. I also appreciate his dynamic ability to go from longer held out screams to shorter quick-paced, almost rap-inspired verses. Look no further than some of his single-take videos where he displays his range on cover songs as well as on Spite tracks.
Moving past the first track, you get a few of the singles released in anticipation with “Caved In”, “Proper One” and “Made To Please.” Each of these features chunky, groovy riffs and as much aggression as the next. The riffy breakdowns in Caved In are a highlight as well as the main riff that opens the track. Similarly, the title track “Dedication to Flesh” features a more groove metal focused style with barred power chord-stricken riff patterns and big head-hanging moments. A common highlight for other listeners is the almost proggy “The Most Ugly” which progresses into something just as aggressive as any of the other tracks on this record. Some of the lyrics on it lean a bit more personally as well with “No need from a father to prove my destiny/Ill willed for refusal to be a victim of your failure to see.” While it’s not an unusual topic of lyricism, it is something of note and opens a discussion as to how deep some of the other lyrics might go.
A couple of my favorite tracks on the record proceed from here in “The Son of Dawn” which features an immensely satisfying breakdown and the closer “Crumble” which, like “The Most Ugly”, feels almost proggy at times with a longer runtime and more dynamics in terms of the instrumentals. I think some might view the consistency of this record as one dimensional, but I would disagree. While the dynamics are nuanced, there is enough diversity in the songwriting and structures to keep my attention. It’s a really solid record with a lot of big riffs and breakdowns and as a fan of heavy music, that’s basically what I look for.
Highlights:
“Lord of the Upside Down”
“Made To Please”
“The Son of Dawn”
“Crumble”
