Review Summary: WHAT A WEIRDO!!!!
Nowadays, death metal can be super experimental. From ambient influences all the way to jazz, bands have been thinking a lot more outside-the-box than ever before. One of the leading groups in that experimental category is a five-piece band from Chicago, Fleshvessel. Their first album,
Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed was an absolutely wonky slab of brutal/avant-garde death metal full of jazz-fusion passages and progressive riffage that added a bit of a symphonic aspect and even some black metal bits. It really threw a wrench into what death metal is and can be. Their brand new album,
Obstinacy: Sisyphean Dreams Unfolded continues in the same vein while kicking up all of the quirky influences up to ten.
These guys are experts in off-kilter riffage, whacky vocal performances and an overall atmosphere of being lost on a newly discovered planet surrounded by ugly creatures and no oxygen to breathe normally. This album suffocates you in the best way possible. Look no further than the opening track, ‘Mental Myiasis’, for some of the weirdest death metal you will ever possibly hear. These guys incorporate all kinds of different instruments apart from your normal guitars, bass and drums, incorporating triangles, chimes and even some Puerto Rican folk instruments as well as a lot of acoustics thrown into the mix. This isn't an ordinary death metal album and the guys make sure you know that right from the beginning.
‘Am’ is the second track here and it really brings a cinematic vibe to an already over-the-top album with cosmic atmospheres and symphonic arrangements that would put Dimmu Borgir to shame. The boys in Fleshvessel really know how to make an album sound like an actual motion picture event. The vocals are operatic, spastic and really show off the range of singer/lunatic Troll Hart perfectly. The riffs, courtesy of Sakda and Alexander, are absolutely mind-bending and the drumming from Colin is a clinic on rhythm applied to all of the chaos. ‘Cessation Fixation’ is a track that really shows off the bass work here, also courtesy of Sadka, who is an absolute madman with the throbbing basslines.
‘It Lurched from a Chasm in the Sky’ is the final track and is also the longest track here at nearly 17 minutes. This mammoth of a track is a cosmic, jazzy epic that almost reminds the listener of a death metal version of Tangerine Dream with spacey synths and King Diamond-esque vocals that really show off the pure atmospheric aspect of the band. This track is a culmination of the three previous tracks and almost reminds the listener of a mutated version of Blood Incantation. It really makes you feel as if you're floating in the solar system with no spacesuit and gasping for air while you slowly suffocate.
Obstinacy: Sisyphean Dreams Unfolded, simply put, is one hell of a weird ride, but in all the right ways. The musicianship is absolutely off the charts and the songwriting is to die for. Even with all of the jerky riffage and chaotic atmospheres, you can tell that these guys are masters of their instruments. It might sound like a complete mess, and it most definitely is, but the band is still extremely tight in their playing. Every single bit is right where it's supposed to be and you can tell that the slop they're stringing together is intentional. This kind of death metal definitely isn't for everyone, but if you want experimental death metal that you can have fun with, look no further than Fleshvessel.
