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Fleshgrind > The Seeds of Abysmal Torment > Reviews
Fleshgrind - The Seeds of Abysmal Torment

The seeds of something better - 68%

autothrall, March 26th, 2013

While it wasn't a dramatic improvement, and there was a pervasive reek of 'keeping up with the times' populating the album, The Seeds of Abysmal Torment was a much needed step forward for Chicago's Fleshgrind in three important categories: musicianship, composition, and of course, brutality. The writing was far denser, punishing, and though I wouldn't dub it adventurous, it was clearly exploring more of the latent potential within its constituents. Arguably, the sophomore could have been an entirely other band. The riffing, hostility, and even the vocals aren't quite like Destined for Defilement, but the deviation is not so broad that they couldn't interchange the songs in a set list. No, this is simply a hallmark of growth for the Midwest murderers, and in truth it's the strongest album of their catalog, even if it doesn't quite distinguish itself from its influences and peers.

From the top down, this was a case of evolution into a more tense and busy entity which could compete with a lot of the younger brutal and technical death acts coming out of both the US and Europe. Still very much redolent of Suffocation, but there's also running parallel to American stompers like Internal Bleeding and Dying Fetus. The guitar tone is more textured. Ruddy and pungent, from the grinding progressions to the unusual and interesting breakdowns. It feels both filthy and claustrophobic, but the acrobatic chugging of Steve Murray ensures that there' no shortage of tempo alternation. The drums likewise are more condensed, with the toms and bass drums far more energetic than the debut. Note sequences often shift between low end grooves, pinches and squeals to flights of very surgical sounding death/thrash ("Monarch of Misery", or the wonderfully and aptly titled "Hogtied and Hatefucked") that puts me in the same head space that I was on Pestilence's debut, Malleus Malifecarum. Nowhere near as catchy, mind you, but the very presence of these passages is enough to keep the music from quickly stagnating. The rate of hit to miss guitar riffs is quite higher than Destined for Defilement, though the album is almost equally concise in its overall length.

Bass is still not a dominant force, but it's definitely deeper and contributes more to the overall aesthetic, which in itself is far more low end and slamming amidst the more aerobic guitar work. You can feel it constantly brooding and bumping along in the muscular murk of the percussion. Rich Lipscomb's vocals are also changed: his lower guttural is comparable to the debut album, but he's alternating this with a sustained growl that sounds like a less ghoulish John Tardy; and in addition, there are a lot more petulant little snarls cast into the mix to create a morbid schizophrenia. The pacing is pretty interesting throughout the album, ranging from an all out clusterfuck assault on the listener's senses and sensibilities, to simpler patterns that emerge; thrashing breaks, chunky grooves. Certainly this is an album that serves as another precursor to the vastly saturated, international brutal and slam death scene we know today, and I wouldn't be surprised to find this in the collections of many of the Russian and Indonesian bands who have been churning out such works of late.

Another advancement was in the lyrical material; even the sadistic "Hogtied and Hatefucked" and "A Legion of Illusions" were better managed than most of the comparable tunes on the debut, and in general the messages and imagery here are more matured and better 'arranged'. They didn't just feel like another garden variety Cannibal Corpse knockoff. Obviously the three years between the debut and this, as the band signed to the (largely underwhelming) Olympic Recordings imprint, were well spent in refining their sound. The Seeds of Abysmal Torment might not be a memorable album, but it was headed in that direction, and anyone sporting a hard on for classic 90s Suffocation or Crytopsy's None So Vile might at least want to hit this up once.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Typical...but still kick-ass! - 83%

Monstro_City, June 20th, 2005

Firstly, what goes through my mind upon listening to this album is, “Wow, this is pretty good production for a Death/Grind band.” In fact, the album in question is even at a very good length for a Death/Grind band. But one must ask one’s self, “Is 35 minutes of Death/Grind at all tolerable?” Yes it is!

Fleshgrind seems to be the poster child for their genre. And while they are very consistent on The Seeds of Abysmal Torment, one doesn’t become lost in the heaviness. However, there isn’t that much else to say about this band. Really. It’s Death/Grind, and that about sums it up. But for kicks, let’s go through the instrumentation. Their vocalist has a very deep growl, so deep that it actually sounds more along the lines of a belch. Their Drummer is unrelenting; creating the band’s most prominent element of heaviness!

Of course, there are downsides to the album. One of which being that the Bass is not given its own spotlight, and seems to be there just to simply keep the band together. That is, if they can hear it. Furthermore, despite the well rounded musicianship on the Guitarist’s end, which mainly is due to the ever-changing riffs, there is a grotesque lack of solos. And after hearing this album, you will be convinced of this, as the Guitarist is most undoubtedly a gifted one who should be very capable of soloing. Nevertheless, the band remains very tight, and articulate (at least, with everything except the coherency of the lyrics).

Now, as most Death metal bands, there is absolutely no progression here. There is nothing that gives these musicians a unique aura. It is just all out kickass music that makes you want to drink a shit load of beer. The Seeds of Abysmal Torment is jam packed with intensity, brutality, hate and malice. Grind the flesh off your face with this CD, just don’t come crawling back crying about how the album didn’t possess any differentiation among its roots. Or in other words, don’t come crawling back, bitching about how the album was exactly as I described it. Fleshgrind isn’t for lightweights. I recommend this band for anyone who is into (or interested in) Deeds of Flesh, Dying Fetus, Pig Destroyer, Vomitory and Mortician.