Iconoclasty of Flesh

The Endoparasites were one of the early bands to play characteristic, thick death metal in the '90s in Brazil such as Medicine Death, Calvary Death, Mordeth and others that were all about...yep, you guessed it. For '93, there's no thrash to be found on "Iconoclasty of Flesh" and this doesn't sound like any of the bands the country is more infamous for in the prior decade.

The production comes with some obscurity, though the sound is loud and the instruments are mostly separated. The vocals come overtop and are reminiscent of Barney from Napalm Death with a growled roar, though there are some others that go for snarls or produce mumbles. This uses an electronic drum set. There are a few timing mistakes with some quick rolls and galloped double bass in some areas due to the preciseness of it, though most sections sound spot on. The snare has a generous amount of effects to give each hit an auditorium-like projection and also has a slightly varying sound when struck instead of one strict tone. The double bass pedals just resemble triggers with a slight click to them. Though the tom drums, which are frequently using strikes and rolls, sound off and distracting as they're far from even moderately authentic. Even so, the drummer is pretty constant with his fills and comes across as fairly energetic.

The band has more tendency towards mid-sections and can occasionally break into sporadic blasts similar to grind. It can help move this along as some of the rhythms can be fairly simplistic and straightforward to death metal. The transitions don't always continually glide into the next, and then others might carry on too long with an area that was plain to begin with. This isn't layered and there's not a massive amount of gravitating hooks or something like melody to grab you from another angle, like Bolt Thrower or Dismember, or even slower parts like Obituary or Autopsy. So, as a listener you're essentially reduced to the band going for heaviness and force, but in the death metal scheme of things The Endoparasites' debut just wasn't as over the top or crushing as the next demented group of guys who were willing to take it a step further. The solos aren't that frequent and usually just grab a few notes and make abstract noise with the whammy bar. The composition is more catered towards bare bones brutality and can work in that context, but doesn't always exceed anticipations as a listener, or do it so effectively that it goes beyond the next devious maniacs attempting the same exact thing.

"Iconoclasty of Flesh" was partly a product of its time in '93. The music didn't push boundaries forward or back, it's mostly simple, straightforward death metal that you can rely on. It isn't overly perverse or unduly diabolical to leave permanent scars after it finishes, just iconic gory dm with growls, standard thick notes and a momentum that can escalate to a blast. If you're just starting out listening to dm, I'd imagine it would hit you squarely between the eyes. But, if someone is looking at the long run, the band sets up a one, two punch, and in the next round a listener is able to foresee where it's headed next and that ends up taxing its repeat play value till one has to completely forget about it to put it on again.