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Revel in Flesh / Graceless > Deathbound > Reviews
Revel in Flesh / Graceless - Deathbound

The Malignant Seed Ascends - 80%

Nattskog7, June 12th, 2022
Written based on this version: 2021, Digital, War Anthem Records

Two underground death metal stalwarts (namely Revel In Flesh and Graceless) have teamed up to offer us a new split of ferocious brutality.

First up, Revel In Flesh start us off with a storm of ripping chainsaw riffs and pulverising drums, delivering a violent spew of Swedish style death metal with flawless execution. Vitriolic vocals snarl into fruition, adding more morbidity to the already visceral instrumentals, conjuring total death the old school way. Mid-tempo crawls intersperse faster paced sections while always feeling like more of a drag through the crypts than a messy slice of chaos. Tombstone shattering brutality and raw savagery are the tools of this trade which is certainly present on this song, delivered with fearsome drums, punishing riffs and gruesome vocals to ensure a crushing onslaught is concocted from the bowels of the cemetery. In contest, the spectral soloing is much more melodic and gives a bit more diversity to the sound while fitting perfectly into the decimating track. Magnificent as ever, these Germany based swedeath worshippers have certainly delivered the goods.

Hot on their heels, Graceless take things into equally heavy but more brooding territories. Jumping right in with blistering riffs and pounding blastbeats that are met with gargantuan vocals, this is a much more dense sound that follows the rotten grooves of Revel In Flesh perfectly. Breaking into funereal and doomy moments, Graceless’ use of dynamics is haunting and eerie yet never detracts from the sheer heaviness of their barbaric yet introspective brand of death metal. Formidably tight soloing accentuates the deep and multi-faceted blend of beauty and filth that Graceless have to offer, giving us a huge amount of variety within a single track. This should be testimony enough to listen to their full length (which was a crushing effort), but regardless they give us a banger of epic proportions on this split.

These two old school death metal acts work gloriously together, playing off of each others morbid sounds to deliver a duo of monstrous songs that showcase excellently why both of these bands are forces to be reckoned with in the death metal underground.

Written for www.nattskog.wordpress.com