Fleshripper / Obliteration

I first got in touch with the German old school death manglers Fleshripper on their split with fellow countrymen Depression. Now that was a 7”, so they didn’t have a whole lot of time to make an impact, but I was left craving more. So how well do they meet my hopes with this CD… Well, I’m not really sure… This is brutal-as-hell old school death metal with modern influences and extremely gory vibes. Musically it’s very well executed, mixing the powerful blasting with slower and heavier parts, and the deep growls and grunts leave little to complain about. So I really do enjoy this slab of brutality, but over time it does have a tendency to become a little dull. Sure, riffing can be very basic, but so what. I’m not really sure why, I just tend to tune out after a while. 5-6 songs is no problem, and I’m rocking along without a care in the world. But after that it becomes a little too much for me. But if injected in smaller doses this is some very powerful stuff!

I’ve never heard of Obliteration before, but this CD contains both their two demos from ´95 and ´99, apparently the only thing they released before disbanding in 2006. It starts of with the latter demo, which showcases a potent blend of gory growls, blasting drums and old school riffing. Now this is definitely worthy of your attention, so I’m surprised they never released any albums. The ultra-fast parts can maybe get a little out of hand at times, but then again it’s only a demo so I’ll let it slide. The production’s quite thin, but without a doubt bearable and way better than a lot of other demos. I could’ve gone without the last five tracks, which is taken from the ´95 Mutilated Corpse demo, ‘cause four of the tracks have been re-recorded with a hell of a better sound, and are already featured on the CD. The ending track is an untitled instrumental track that does nothing for me, but oh well.

A highly enjoyable split, but not a masterpiece! Kudos on the zombie artwork by DarkkArt!

Originally written for www.mylastchapter.net