Beast Incarnate

Beheaded are back, and they’ve come a long way since they basically single-handedly codified the Unique Leader style of speedy, technical brutal death back with Ominous Bloodline twelve years ago. Even back then, they were always one of those bands who seem to blur the line between being influential and being an imitator. Did they help popularize the spastic, slamming tech-death style, or did they just happen to be in the right place at the right time? Sure, they’ve been plugging away at the style since at least the mid-to-late 90s, but something like Perpetual Mockery is a lot more straightforward and derivative. It took them a few more years before they came into their own. The same could be said for the style as a whole, really; it wasn’t until the 21st century that brutal death metal as a whole really began to strip away the OSDM influence and add more thick breakdowns and a mechanical feel to the riffing. Some blame Devourment, some blame Necrophagist, some might even point the finger at The Sound of Perseverance or early Suffocation, but something about death metal changed.

The was over a decade ago, though, and now it appears as though the style’s come full circle. Labels like Dark Descent and Sepulchral Voice have spearheaded a re-emergence of old-school death metal, and it would appear that Beheaded has caught on to that. Not that this is necessarily some sort of throwback album or anything—Beheaded have always been a brutal death metal band and that hasn’t changed with Beast Incarnate. However, the songs are a little bit more streamlined and less abruptly paced. The little start-stop moments you heard a lot on Ominous Bloodline aren’t present here, and it has a lot to do with the new drummer. Davide Billia has a very steady, blast-heavy and immersive style, which I imagine is going to sound great on the new Hour of Penance record but kind of blurs the songs on Beast Incarnate together, despite his obviously varied skill set. Though the style of death metal is still quite modern and closer to Suffocation and Dying Fetus than old Death or Deicide, there are still moments where Beheaded attempt to sound more like the latter. They’re trying to move away from the brutal death metal template they’ve been firmly entrenched in for so long.

Normally I would appreciate such an attempt to create a new path for modern death metal, but it ends up being so disappointing because Beheaded are one of the few bands who are really, really good despite a lack of originality. Sure, they’re not bringing a whole lot more to the table than most other brutal death metal bands, but they always managed to put it together in a way that was consistently attention-grabbing and memorable all the while. Beast Incarnate sounds the most distinct of any Beheaded album: there’s attempts at slower, drawn-out tracks without any reliance on slams (“The Black Death”) as well as times where they inject more of a melodic death metal feel into the guitars (“Punishment of the Grave”), but the more Beheaded attempts to branch out, the less memorable they become. The brickwalled production values aren’t helping matters much: Sure, you can make out the gritty bass tone rather easily and the prominence of the parched, mid-ranged growling that makes up the vocals gives things a little bit more depth and bite, but it also diminishes the sense of variety the band is clearly trying to emphasize with all of the different songs.

This isn’t a chore to listen to or anything, and at times I appreciate the more accessible approach the band is going for, but there aren’t really many moments on Beast Incarnate that stand out. Perhaps with a new guitarist and drummer, the band wanted to really push things in a new direction, but they’re trying to do so in a way that doesn’t completely abandon their old fans, and in the end Beast Incarnate may not truly please either camp. This is a solid album, but it often falls into the “brutal death for people who don’t like brutal death” category. The band has gotten a little cleaner and more rounded—perhaps a bit too much for their own good. Check out Kronos instead if you’re looking for a better version of something in the same style.

(originally written for the Metal Observer)