Lost Torso Found

The most remarkable thing about Degrade is that they feature what looks like a couple dwarfs on guitar and drums. Seriously, when I saw their picture I was really interested in why two of the members looked to be about five feet tall (and another one's not much bigger). Apparently their short stature makes Degrade ANGRY, which is why they're playing New York-style brutal death metal, despite originating from Sweden. Really, these guys should be opening for Suffocation any day now. They probably wouldn't be a very APPROPRIATE opener, but they would probably end up in such a slot anyway.

The members of Degrade just looooooove Skinless. Every track on 'Lost Torso Found' is right in that band's vein of grooving, slightly punky brutal death metal. There's lots of start-stop chug riffs that break into blasting sections before slipping back into mid-paced groove. There's no melody; all the riffs are either Suffocation-style convoluted chugging or speedy tremolo riffs with the occasional pinch harmonic for effect. Vocals are those somewhat silly, frothing growls like you hear in the late Iniquity's compositions, rounded out with, like nearly all modern brutal death metal bands, the occasional pig squeal. Drums and bass are handled capably, though not particularly uniquely. Then again, that pretty much exemplifies the album as a whole.

As someone who's really been around the block as far as US (and US-style) brutal death metal goes, it's hard to really excite me with relatively straightforward music like this. I suppose that 'Lost Torso Found' is above average in some ways, as far as having some catchy rhythms (derived from the Skinless mold, of course) and good production. The songwriting, though? Nothing special. I've heard this sort of thing numerous times before, and while it's not bad, it just doesn't really grab me in any significant way. A bit of bounciness and bassy production really doesn't manage that in such an oversaturated brutal death scene.

I guess if you're really obsessed with gathering every NYDM-type CD that has ever been released, you might as well pick this up. Hell, if you see it and you don't mind getting something that's essentially just more of the same, you're not really going to go wrong. But in and of itself, you can pass it without feeling any particular remorse.

(Originally written for www.vampire-magazine.com)