Review by Faithless on March 17, 2020.

All right, veterans of death metal are out of the trenches and came back to the front line once again. Posers are advancing with emo artillery, it is time for the final bombardment of old school death from above, let's obliterate the masses of fake metal heads and force them to live like rats under the catacombs. That's right fellows, Teutonic veterans of war Fleshcrawl ended their 12-year silence with a new full length called Into The Catacombs Of Flesh.

Well, I think Fleshcrawl didn't want to reinvent their style with this release, they rather played safe and continued with pretty much the same formula they have been using for the last 5 albums. Melodic guitars (keeping evilness and not going to the extreme of melo-death), solid drums and in general a decent production and songwriting; Into the Catacombs of Flesh manages to entertain the listener; it is not a jaw dropping recording but neither it disappoints. There are some high and low parts I will develop more.

Some of the really outstanding sections of this album are the combination of fast/devastating tracks with others that tend to be more mid-paced/slow and some others that are the best of both worlds. For instance, you can find relentless tunes like 'Funeral Storm', 'Obliteration Bizarre', 'Red Streams of Sorrow' and 'Of Frozen Bloody Grounds' and these songs are characterized by their violence and speed, a real feast. On the other hand, there are some slow/mid paced songs that offer a muddier production value; give you the feeling of soldiers crawling to their trenches to avoid the stream of bullets. Examples of this type of sound are: 'Grave Monger' and 'Ossuary Rituals'. Finally, you get the best of both worlds, fast and slow dynamics in 'Among Death and Desolation' and 'Chained Impalement'.

The part I did not like that much about Into the Catacombs of Flesh was basically the track list choices the band made. I think the album in general is loyal to Fleshcrawl's sound but in this case the order in which some songs were organized ruins the flow of devastation from track to track. For instance, I really dislike the way the record started, the self-title track is not very strong and with the intro cuts a lot of energy being the first track. I would have started the record with a devastating song like 'Obliteration Bizarre', it is short and brutal just the way you want to start this death metal feast. In the middle of the album you get 3 killer songs in a row: 'Obliteration Bizarre', 'Red Streams of Sorrow' and 'Of Frozen Bloody Grounds' but they have pretty similar structures and I did not realize when one finished and the other started. A better approach would have been to place these songs in different parts not one after the other.

I highly appreciate that veteran bands like Fleshcrawl are still waving the flag of death metal with descent standards. I don't want to sound like a fan boy but I think this is the way true death metal should sound. I praise the bands that deserve it not only for the fact that they have had long careers but also for the fact that they still produce valuable music. Into The Catacombs Of Flesh was a very pleasant and entertaining listen but it could have benefit more if the track listing was organized in a more fluid manner. Fleshcrawl may have not been a very famous or mainstream band but they still kicks ass in a brutal way. As the singer proudly growls in my favorite song from the album ('Chained Impalement') "Suffer you fucking cunt, die you fucking cunt".

Rating: 8.6 out of 10

Review by chrisc7249 on May 12, 2022.

It's been quite some time since we've seen any new material from Ophidian I - 2012, to be exact, was their last release (single notwithstanding), an ambitious full length debut that was certainly commendable, albeit not a must listen for fans of the genre. Their brand of spastic, melodic tech death was certainly enough to grab my attention for future releases, but I must admit I was not ready for an album of this caliber when I first started listening to it last year.

In the 9 years between their last effort and this one, the band has seen a switch up in their drum and vocal position, but the string section has remained the same. So, with that in mind, what differences can we expect going from the debut to this album? Well, for starters, this album has a much better sound. Solvet Saeclum wasn't a bad sounding record by any means, but it certainly wasn't as crisp and clear as this album.

Songwriting and musicianship have both taken massive leaps forward. I can only remember bits and pieces of the first album, but Desolate is incredibly catchy and memorable despite its seemingly overwhelming technicality. The lead guitars are mind bogglingly intricate, with just about every technique in the book being utilized to great extent throughout the duration of this album. There's captivating and beautiful leads that make one feel warm inside, and then there's suffocating riffs that will come out of nowhere to strangle you out of your state of peace. The songs are short, sweet and to the point - there's no meandering or interludes, just killer riffing, brain warping solos, pummeling drumming and brutal vocals.

The vocals may actually be this record's weakest point. John is a good vocalist for sure, I just think he needs to add some more range of emotion and feeling into his style. The music is so colorful and vibrant, which does at times work well with the bleak and dark vocals, but other times can feel stagnant. Even just including some black metal shrieks from time to time will easily fix this. But hey, sometimes we shouldn't fix what's not broken, so I could be completely wrong on this.

2021 was a brilliant year for technical death metal, and I don't know where this one will quite sit when I've officially finished taking in all the tech highlights of the year. Right now, it's neck and neck with First Fragment's "Gloire Eternelle" (an album it's actually very similar in some regards to.) It's certainly one of the best technical death metal albums to come out so far this decade, and I definitely consider this to be an instant classic. Incredible work from the boys from Iceland.

FFO: Allegaeon, Inferi, First Fragment

Favorite song: 'Spiral To Oblivion'

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review by chrisc7249 on May 12, 2022.

It's been quite some time since we've seen any new material from Ophidian I - 2012, to be exact, was their last release (single notwithstanding), an ambitious full length debut that was certainly commendable, albeit not a must listen for fans of the genre. Their brand of spastic, melodic tech death was certainly enough to grab my attention for future releases, but I must admit I was not ready for an album of this caliber when I first started listening to it last year.

In the 9 years between their last effort and this one, the band has seen a switch up in their drum and vocal position, but the string section has remained the same. So, with that in mind, what differences can we expect going from the debut to this album? Well, for starters, this album has a much better sound. Solvet Saeclum wasn't a bad sounding record by any means, but it certainly wasn't as crisp and clear as this album.

Songwriting and musicianship have both taken massive leaps forward. I can only remember bits and pieces of the first album, but Desolate is incredibly catchy and memorable despite its seemingly overwhelming technicality. The lead guitars are mind bogglingly intricate, with just about every technique in the book being utilized to great extent throughout the duration of this album. There's captivating and beautiful leads that make one feel warm inside, and then there's suffocating riffs that will come out of nowhere to strangle you out of your state of peace. The songs are short, sweet and to the point - there's no meandering or interludes, just killer riffing, brain warping solos, pummeling drumming and brutal vocals.

The vocals may actually be this record's weakest point. John is a good vocalist for sure, I just think he needs to add some more range of emotion and feeling into his style. The music is so colorful and vibrant, which does at times work well with the bleak and dark vocals, but other times can feel stagnant. Even just including some black metal shrieks from time to time will easily fix this. But hey, sometimes we shouldn't fix what's not broken, so I could be completely wrong on this.

2021 was a brilliant year for technical death metal, and I don't know where this one will quite sit when I've officially finished taking in all the tech highlights of the year. Right now, it's neck and neck with First Fragment's "Gloire Eternelle" (an album it's actually very similar in some regards to.) It's certainly one of the best technical death metal albums to come out so far this decade, and I definitely consider this to be an instant classic. Incredible work from the boys from Iceland.

FFO: Allegaeon, Inferi, First Fragment

Favorite song: 'Spiral To Oblivion'

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review by chrisc7249 on May 12, 2022.

It's been quite some time since we've seen any new material from Ophidian I - 2012, to be exact, was their last release (single notwithstanding), an ambitious full length debut that was certainly commendable, albeit not a must listen for fans of the genre. Their brand of spastic, melodic tech death was certainly enough to grab my attention for future releases, but I must admit I was not ready for an album of this caliber when I first started listening to it last year.

In the 9 years between their last effort and this one, the band has seen a switch up in their drum and vocal position, but the string section has remained the same. So, with that in mind, what differences can we expect going from the debut to this album? Well, for starters, this album has a much better sound. Solvet Saeclum wasn't a bad sounding record by any means, but it certainly wasn't as crisp and clear as this album.

Songwriting and musicianship have both taken massive leaps forward. I can only remember bits and pieces of the first album, but Desolate is incredibly catchy and memorable despite its seemingly overwhelming technicality. The lead guitars are mind bogglingly intricate, with just about every technique in the book being utilized to great extent throughout the duration of this album. There's captivating and beautiful leads that make one feel warm inside, and then there's suffocating riffs that will come out of nowhere to strangle you out of your state of peace. The songs are short, sweet and to the point - there's no meandering or interludes, just killer riffing, brain warping solos, pummeling drumming and brutal vocals.

The vocals may actually be this record's weakest point. John is a good vocalist for sure, I just think he needs to add some more range of emotion and feeling into his style. The music is so colorful and vibrant, which does at times work well with the bleak and dark vocals, but other times can feel stagnant. Even just including some black metal shrieks from time to time will easily fix this. But hey, sometimes we shouldn't fix what's not broken, so I could be completely wrong on this.

2021 was a brilliant year for technical death metal, and I don't know where this one will quite sit when I've officially finished taking in all the tech highlights of the year. Right now, it's neck and neck with First Fragment's "Gloire Eternelle" (an album it's actually very similar in some regards to.) It's certainly one of the best technical death metal albums to come out so far this decade, and I definitely consider this to be an instant classic. Incredible work from the boys from Iceland.

FFO: Allegaeon, Inferi, First Fragment

Favorite song: 'Spiral To Oblivion'

Rating: 10 out of 10