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Fondlecorpse > From Beyond the Crypt > Reviews
Fondlecorpse - From Beyond the Crypt

more razorback stuff - 52%

Noktorn, April 15th, 2010

If this is supposed to represent the standard level of darkness and evilness of underground death metal, I think the scene has a problem. Fondlecorpse is probably the cuddliest band in the world this side of the Jonas Brothers. They wrote a song about 'Gremlins'.

They wrote a song about 'Gremlins'.

I suppose this is one of the big archetypes of the Razorback sound, though it does have some of its own idiosyncrasies. In essence, this is a fairly regular style of European blasting death/grind with a helping of thrash in the riffs, just with Razorback's custom style of bounciness and complete lack of darkness. The most immediately striking part of this music is the very fast (and incredibly annoying) drum machine, with its 32nd note hi-hats chiming away almost constantly. It's very obvious and irritating; I'm not sure why so many people give it a pass when they would otherwise complain about drum machine bands.

If you've heard a band like Ghoul or Frightmare or Blood Freak you essentially know what to expect from the rest of the music: death/thrash/grind stuff with growly vocals and fast, thrash-infused riffs with melodies clearly derived from old horror soundtracks. They're not really bad, but I've heard this sort of thing a dozen times before and the very flat, plainly mixed production prevents the music from connecting with the listener. In addition to this, the song structures are rather uninspired; they're just a series of connected riffs, and there's not a whole lot of variation, so most of the tracks come off as just a series of blast beats and interconnected tremolo riffs. Nothing really happens; things just start and stop.

Like every other Razorback-style band, everyone loves these guys and nothing I can say will sway anyone of their opinion. I guess this is a lot less offensive than Ghoul or Lord Gore but at the same time I can't think of any reason to listen to it. Even among Razorback bands there's better stuff than this.