Into Never Shall

Opening the record with eerie samples and classic horror style piano, the old school feel of this record is off to a great start before we see a note of death metal. 80s style synths up the ante of retro rites before HM-2 guitars draw in with a doom-fuelled riff. With drums and bass kicking in the rhythmic foundation to this crawling riff, the immediately noticeable improvement in atmosphere from the EP is a welcome upgrade. The thunderous roar of Swedish death metal worship really kicks in after the first track as roaring vocals dive into an onslaught of ferocious drums and dastardly riffs with pure 90s fire burning at the core. The malicious groove of the riffs has plenty of melody and aggression balanced in the glorious Stockholm manner that meets the d-beat driven attack perfectly. The cleaner bass punches through the mix to give it a bottomless depths while the vitriolic snarling vocals tie all of this together. The production feels much more monstrous than ever before while the songwriting is superb in conveying their old school destruction. Expunged are back and better than ever.

Charging forward, the unrelenting obliteration of morbidity does not show remorse. Invoking the venomous punk-tinged death metal spirit of the 90s and giving us a remarkably genuine and fearsome display of how this sound is just as powerful as it was all those years ago, that is a mission that Expunged have absolutely fulfilled. While there may be a plethora of bands doing this style and doing it extremely well, that is not a reason for complaint as far as I am concerned. Expunged may not be reinventing the wheel but they spin it at violence inducing speed throughout the record with the influence of their Swedish predecessors worn proudly on their sleeves. Solos are sporadically used by have a tasteful feel to them that accentuates the brutality nicely without becoming a detraction while showcasing some skilful chops. This record is definitely more rhythm driven, as is typically the case with this type of death metal. Though the grooves give the songs a certainly catchy hook, there is plenty of barbarity to ensure this isn’t too easy to listen to, giving us some savagery of epic proportions while always being rooted in that fantastic stomp. This is a cut of total chainsaw fuelled death metal brilliance that hits hard with a mighty force and leaves triumphant.

Unarguably the strongest work from Expunged thus far, a monolithic effort of death metal that invokes the old school days beautifully while executing it with passion and stoic skills. The EP was a really cool one, now we see the band has developed their ability to string that atmosphere together to give us a full opus of diabolic death metal majesty.

Written for www.nattskog.wordpress.com

For now, there seems to be no signs of slowing down the old school death metal train. These last few years have seen good releases by bands like Daemoniac, Skelethal and Belgium's Schizophrenia, to name just a (very) select few. All very enjoyable releases that bring nothing new to the table, but certainly did not disappoint this nostalgic death metal fanatic. Something that can be said about the first full length of Canadian outfit Expunged as well!

After an atmospheric intro, the feast of recognition begins, because this sounds like my neighbors arguing or my boss nagging: very familiar. The first bands that come to mind are the usual suspects of Dismember and early Entombed, but Grave and Fleshcrawl aren't far off in the distance, because this is Swedish death metal galore (but from Canada). This comes courtesy of that well-known buzzsaw guitar tone that we all know, love and worship, and it's this sound that keeps together a sturdy collection of simple yet catchy death metal songs. There is plenty of variation in between the tracks to distinguish them from each other, without losing coherence or drive. The band mix their more traditional faster (polka beat) parts with slower sections, but aren't afraid to throw in some d-beat or go for full-on grindcore frenzy (Repulsion style) either, thus creating a total picture that stays interesting throughout. A picture that is completed by excellent musicianship and a loud and clear production, that sounds powerful without sacrificing the old school spirit of the music, so well done on that one too!

Another thing well worth mentioning is that the music has this crust edge to it. Not only in the d-beat parts that pop up here and there, but also in the vocals and the lyrics. The vocalist has the kind of gruff delivery you'd expect from a band that deals in Swedeath influenced metal, but he has me thinking of Dean Jones of Extreme Noise Terror/Disgust quite a lot too, with a tad of Scott from Repulsion thrown in. The crust influence really comes to the fore in the lyrics that tackle subject matter such as war and the failings of society, the kind you'd find on albums by the likes of Amebix, Disrupt or Disfear. These bleak topics match the music without flaw, and help round out the old school feel of this shiny little platter without fail.

This is a great old school death metal release that may not bring anything new to the masses but let me assure you that there are far more inferior releases in this over-saturated scene, and Expunged's first full is well worth the effort, as well as your time and money.