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Defleshed > Under the Blade > Reviews
Defleshed - Under the Blade

No false tactics - 80%

Felix 1666, February 3rd, 2019
Written based on this version: 1997, CD, Invasion Records

Defleshed do not exist anymore, but they churned out five full-lengths between 1996 and 2005. After a bumpy start with a weak debut, the musicians pulled their socks up and "Under the Blade" catapulted them on the interesting side of those combos that combined thrash and death metal. The Swedish guys put a lot of energy in their tunes and made some heads burst. Even more than 20 years after its publication, "Under the Blade" is still worth a listen from time to time.

The album holds the best riffs of the entire career of the formation. The skull-splitting riffing of "Metalbounded" hits the listener like a heavy hammer and the same goes for the merciless rasping of "Entering My Yesterdays". This song knows the word "victims", but has never heard the term "prisoners". Both eruptions rush straight forward, but that's no feature which separates them from the other pieces. The whole material terrorizes the audience with an orgy of high velocity and shredding guitars. Before I am out on my next date with a nice girl, I want to have one of the pills that Defleshed consumed in the recording studio. (But only one, otherwise I fear I mutate into a violent humanimal and have a follow-up meeting at the local police station.) Anyway, the album's level of aggression is amazing. It appears only logical that the cover version of "Curse the Gods" waives the calm intro of the original. By the way, Destruction's early works have obviously been an inspiration for the Swedish ruffians, but "Under the Blade" is less technically precise. The thrashing fundament has been enriched by some blast beats and the big portion of brutality gives the output a death metal flair every now and again. Maze of Torment, another Swedish thrash / death combo which has broken up, and Defleshed lie close to each other in terms of style.

The constant screaming of the lead vocalist expresses vigour, vileness and hatred. Of course, his approach underlines the ruthless ecstasy of his band mates. Matte Modin tortures the drums and he does it in a merciless way. He was also involved in Dark Funeral, but Defleshed's material is free from black metal influences. Nevertheless, the physical activities of Modin are comparable with those he has contributed to Lord Ahriman's project. Even the songs with a pretty hymnal and almost solemn chorus, for example the title track, are mainly based on a full-speed-ahead-approach. This way of proceeding is supported by the intense and somewhat noisy mix. After the first half of the album, it gets a little bit strenuous to follow the last songs with full concentration, but the furious and fierce sound experience is just too strong to ignore it. Hyper-aggressive tunes such as the strangely titled "Cinderella's Return & Departure" and in particular "Walking the Moons of Mars" with its piercing guitar at the beginning make the day of every dude who loves radical metal sounds.

In short, "Under the Blade" shows an uncompromising and headstrong trio that did not attach importance to useless things such as variety or technical narcissism. Inter alia the closing cover versions makes clear that Defleshed were more interested in developing the maximum of pressure and the ultimate intensity - and they fulfilled their mission successfully. Or, to say it with the band itself: "Defleshed plays Solid Metal exclusively. No computers or other false tactics were used to fullfil this CD." Good to know.

Hostile death/thrash - 86%

Nahsil, April 27th, 2007

In reviewing another Defleshed album, someone commented that their style is like a combination of early raw Swedish death metal and Teutonic thrash. I like that (there's even a Destruction cover to support such an approximation!). Defleshed are a highly consistent go-to band for anyone craving an unrelenting maelstrom of metallic riffs. The few albums I've heard were of similar quality, but I consider "Under the Blade" my favorite. Their gameplan isn't any mystery and there isn't much here in the way of progressive "Opeth"-isms, just riff after riff with a steel backbone of blast beats, saturated in the corrosive acid of Oskar Karlsson's shrieking vocals.

This is dangerous music! Between the razor sharp guitar tone, which sounds like ear drum-splitting throwing knives, and a vitriolic frontman, Defleshed capture the essence of violence and aggression well. "Pleasure to Kill" comes to mind several times while listening to this album - in a way that suggests Defleshed are big fans of the German thrash scene of old. At the same time, the intensity of the whole package is more than was normally mustered back then; that's where the death metal influence rears its head. Defleshed do a good job of selectively borrowing the best aspects from their predecessors. Anyone can play thrash influenced death or death influenced thrash, but few can merge the styles this well and create a new beast in the process. Expect to hear lots of riffs based on the thrash model played alongside arpeggiated death metal sections and even the sparingly utilized melodic lead (which almost always serves as a side dish rather than main course, avoiding the melodic death metal trap).

Defleshed's lyrical subject matter is, ironically, not abundantly concerned with death metal's standard themes of disembowelment, decapitation, immolation and the like. Songs "Thorns of a Black Rose" and "Eat the Meat Raw" are more accurately described as morbid and off-kilter than what one might expect from a band named Defleshed. It's a plus, in my book, that they opted for the road less travelled and wrote some truly weird crap instead of rehashing old Cannibal Corpse imagery.

"Under the Blade" wears its inspiration on its sleeve (literally, in the case of the tracklist), but Defleshed are creative enough to pull it off without breaking any copyright laws.

Simply amazing - 94%

Disciple_Of_Metal, January 22nd, 2003

This album is, as the title says, simply amazing. Kick ass rhythm guitars (they better be, since there are no solos!!!), insane as hell drumming, and lame vocals over not the greatest lyrics.

But, the last two points are one of Defleshed's strengths. The slurred and often mispronounced singing brings an element of fun into their music. It is like the band is coming out and saying: "Sure, our lyrics aren't the best and our singing is much worse, but oh well." Thus, it shows that Defleshed are not overly serious about the aggression that can be seen in the rhythm guitars and drumming. This makes it far more fun to listen to this band. They are just not overly br00tal.

On to the songs. What can I say, some really awesome tracks are on here! "Entering My Yesterdays", "Metalbounded", "Under The Blade", "Thorns of a Black Rose", "Walking The Moons of Mars"... and their cover of Destruction's "Curse The Gods" is mindblowing. (This was in fact, the song that got me into Destruction!) If I had to pick one song apart from the rest it would probably be "Metalbounded". The song has some awesome riffs and the drumming is not ultra fast, and the middle section is perfect for headbanging.

All in all, this is Defleshed's best album! If you like aggressive thrash with a hint of death metal, then pick this album up!