Misanthropic Carnage

Severe Torture is a band that's slowly grown on me over time. When I first bought and listened to Misanthropic Carnage, which was the first album I'd ever heard by the band, I have to say that I was unimpressed with what I heard. But the more I listened to it the more I started to like it, and I was forced to reevaluate my opinion of Severe Torture.

Severe Torture and their album Misanthropic Carnage are straightforward, generic brutal death metal, with the standard cliches thrown in. Grotesque artwork, blood and gore lyrics, guttural vocals, and lots of blast beats and shredding on the guitar. Overall nothing really makes Severe Torture stand out among death metal bands, especially today when it seems like every death metal band has adopted a "look how technical/fast I can play my guitar" mentality.

Despite these flaws Misanthropic Carnage is still a decent album and is enjoyable to listen to. The musicians in the band are good at what they do, even if they do lack imagination. Musically Misanthropic Carnage sounds alot like Effigy of the Forgotten to Pierced From Within era Suffocation minus the technical aspect to their playing, and minus the innovation.

The guitar riffs sound like the faster paced songs that Suffocation and Barnes-era Cannibal Corpse played. It's pretty standard death metal riffs with the expected blast beats and breakdowns thrown in. The music sounds really chaotic yet at the same time it has a somewhat technical feel to it. The drums don't do anything special, just blast beat after blast beat, and the bass isn't really audible. The vocals are more generic death metal guttural growls.

The main standout tracks on this CD are "Meant to Suffer" and "Blinded I Slaughter." Like I've already told you, it's pretty standard brutal death metal, even on these two tracks. But these two tracks are the most memorable on the album.

In the end, Misanthropic Carnage is a fun listen but don't expect anything brilliant. The same goes for the band. Severe Torture is decent but of the two albums that I've heard nothing spectacular.

There's precisely one way to accurately describe this music: it sounds like a modernized, brutal death version of mid-era Cannibal Corpse, circa 'The Bleeding' or thereabouts. It's a much more binary and less oldschool version of that style, but you can see the sharply delineated lines where Cannibal Corpse ideas end and this band's begin. Had Cannibal Corpse started making music, say, five years later than they did, this is likely what the would sound like: blast-heavy, grinding, and relatively devoid of hook, groove, and catchy riff.

The lack of those things doesn't necessarily make for a bad album, and Severe Torture is pretty good at making that straightforward style of brutal death metal that makes most people cringe. Clearly this is resolutely set in the Dutch brutal death sound (though without the gore influences of fellow artists such as Inhume), with similarities to bands like Brutus coming very easily. The music is perpetually speedy and relatively technical, with a wide array of searing tremolo riffs used in each song over equally spastic and battering drums. The vocals are a low, unintelligible, extended-from-Barnes death growl which fits the rest of the package effectively enough that you don't really notice them most of the time. The songs on this album are rarely surprising: they move quickly and the various passages can turn on a dime, but none of that is particularly unusual for this style of brutal death, so if you're acquainted with the style this will seem rather standard. That being said, it's still a fun listen; it's just brutality for brutality's sake, and even after several listens I have trouble telling which song is which, but it works nicely as a lunch-break album at just over half an hour and doesn't offend my sensibilities in any way.

So if you like brutal death I guess you might as well get this; it's enjoyable music, if rather uncreative, and its simple-mindedness and straightforward intensity is rather charming. I'd hardly recommend you go out of your way for it, but if you see it for cheap there's no reason not to give this a try.

Nothing about this album is tranquil - from the get go, the death metal chaos starts and goes full blast until the very last brutal note. I'd call this Cannibal Corpse with less rhythm and groove, provided that there aren't a whole lot of hooks; my impression is that this is just a band to have fun and go wild with. The almost constant double bass drums followed by tons of fast-paced blast beats are thick and have that "bouncy" sound that provide plenty of bone crunching fills. This singer sounds as if he is trying to emulate Chris Barnes' extremely low grunts and growls on 'Tomb of the Mutilated' - only the vocals on this record are significantly deeper on the tonal level. The complex and blistering guitar riffs are seemingly in vein of Cryptopsy's "None So Vile" album with constant tremolo picking that bleeds with ugly and razor sharp melody.

The crystal clear production allows the bass to be heard with ease within the constricting mix of the guitars and vigorously pounds sound into the empty cracks of each song. Occasionally, you can really hear some amazing bass work when it’s got time to emerge from following the foundational riffs and shows itself off a little bit with the speed of a machine gun. Structurally, the songs are a train wreck with recursive guitar riffs, but since this is brutal death metal, I don’t think many people are going to care about perfect formation. Chances are, if you listen to brutal death metal, you aren’t looking for something revolutionary, anyways. More than likely, most brutal death metal bands aren’t out to transcend anything; most are just there to have fun, and this album is no exception to the aforementioned claim.

Think along the lines of Wormed, Visceral Bleeding and Beheaded…bands that you can just kick back and violently bang your head along with. Again, this is nothing new to the genre, but it’s still consistent, as well as a brutal treat. If you’re looking for a good time, put Misanthropic Carnage into your CD player; grab a cold drink, head bang to your heart's content.

Here is yet another masterpiece from Dutch death metal stalwarts Severe Torture. Still retaining that unique chunky sound this album delivers 9 tracks of technical and ferocious mega-bass blasting Death Metal. Those who were into their “Feasting on Blood” CD and “Butchery of the Soul” MCD should definitely lay their hands on this one. I can guarantee half an hour of sickness blasting through your speakers!“Misanthropic Carnage” is full of technique and is very fast paced ranging from Seth Van De Loo’s blast beats and sick lyrics to Van Laarhoven’s complex guitar riffs. Boleji’s bass sound and Dennis’ guttural vocal work rips through all the tracks giving the album a unique and ultra-sick sound.

The album starts with “Mutilation of the Flesh” which is beset with blast beats, double bass work, fast-picking riffs and chords and sick gutting growls. Other stand out tracks are the title track, “Your Blood is Mine” and the fast paced “Castrated”.Production is brilliant on both the sound and album production levels. Severe Torture’s sound has definitely matured from their previous releases. Sick cover art work by Joe Maloney makes this album more compelling to many Death Metal fans around with a taste for sickness. Definitely a must-buy!

This is what Brutal Metal should sound like. The vocals sound as though Satan sung them himself. I can't get over how great the vocal performances of Dennis is. His deep growls make your guts and bowels twist and turn. This is seriously one of the sickest, scariest throat growls I've ever heard. The guitar, bass, and drum playing is some of the tighest I've ever heard from this genre. The riffs have a very evil, unforgiving sound.

The opening track perfectly sets the mood for the whole album, sick, evil, and unforgiving. The following tracks range from fast and neckbraking to slower, more grooving riffs you can really bang your head too. However, the real treat here is the closing track. I think it alone is worth the price of the whole CD.

The lyrics are quite disturbing and discusting, but not in the pathetic way so many gore bands try. There's some actual meaning, motivation, and anger behind these guys lyrics, they didn't write this sick stuff just for the pure sake of being sick. The artwork is also sick and disturbing, in fact the CD comes with a black censor insert for the cover. Packaging is obviously important to these guys.

Bottom line, if you like Death and Goregrind metal, get this CD!!!