Review: Broken Flesh – Forever in Flames
From the Vault Review: Broken Flesh – Forever in Flames
I feel like Broken Flesh’s debut release is something of a forgotten one. Most of the time, it’s Warbound and their self-titled release from 2015 that hog the spotlight with their blend of slam and brutal deathcore on adrenaline with the pulverizing low-end assault of brutal death metal (imagine a mix of California’s Atrocity with latter-day Cannibal Corpse, Tortured Conscience and Cryptopsy). And there’s nothing wrong with that. Those albums are as ridiculously intense as death metal gets. But I think Forever in Flames, their debut, should definitely not languish in the shadows (any labels up for a sick reissue of this one?).
Go back in your mind to the late 2000’s. Deathcore and metalcore, love it or hate it, was in full-swing; so much so that I feel like death metal proper was almost a genre dinosaur by that point. Impending Doom, With Blood Comes Cleansing, Demon Hunter, and As I Lay Dying were in, old-school death metal of any variety seemed to be kind of out. And then came Broken Flesh.
Citing influences almost exclusively of the secular variety – Suffocation, Hate Eternal, Cannibal Corpse, and Morbid Angel – Broken Flesh seemed like a band raised by wolves and using all of their knowledge from their musical past as a repurposed weapon with which to promulgate and preach the Gospel of Christ. One listen to Forever in Flames will prove it.
Unlike the deathcore/slam elements heard on later releases, Forever in Flames sticks to brutal death metal almost entirely, specifically of the New York style. Percussive, chunky, violent and possessed of a rhythmic stomping pace, Forever in Flames picks up where bands like Tortured Conscience left off. Kevin Tubby, guitarist and driving force behind the band since its inception in 2004, handles vocal duties on this one, and I have to say that I definitely prefer his hoarse gutturals to the roared grunts of later vocalist Jacob Mathes, just simply for sounding far more raw and frightening. Though Forever in Flames lacks some of the blinding speed of later albums, the pile-driving effect of the song structures mixed with hurricanes of old-school death metal carnage hit all the right spots. “Walls of Lies” in particular absolutely rips on every level – don’t miss it.
When it comes to lyrics, Broken Flesh obviously part ways in a big way with their influences, though they aren’t afraid to explore violent themes on any level. “Unworthy” seems to explore the concept of martyrdom in a graphic way (much like “Valley of Mass Crucifixion” would later do on their 2015 album, Broken Flesh), “Son of Perdition” concerns the demise of Judas Iscariot, “I Bleed” deals with possession and deliverance from evil, and the list goes on. Broken Flesh approach none of their subject matter with kid gloves; if you think Christian death metal is just growling and grunting about loving your neighbour, you’re in for a rude awakening.
Bottom line – if you’re tired of over-processed modern death metal, if you’re looking for a more contemporary example of brutal death metal that doesn’t simply succumb to being another Incantaclone, give Forever in Flames a go. It’s high-time this album got the attention it deserves.
For Fans Of: Immolation, Tortured Conscience, Suffocation, Hate Eternal, Taking the Head of Goliath, Living Sacrifice (Inhabit-era)
About Author
