Hello metalheads, this is John with another review! Undeath are a relatively new band, but holy Hell have they started out strong. Hailing from Rochester, New York, these guys play some absolutely quality death metal. Being from the Greater Rochester area, I will always give this band(and any others from the area) all of my attention and time. The other notable band that I remember very clearly while going to shows was Sirens and Sailors. Crushing garbage plates, drinking Genny beer and Undeath will always remind me of home now. Their next album “More Insane” is set to come out next Friday October 4th, on Prosthetic Records.
The first thing I noticed when the first single came out was the huge production upgrade. They still have the Old School Death Metal genre going for them, but now with a modern production sound that truly is a step in the right direction. All of the instruments sound a lot more crisp, but the vocals I feel have the best new sound. All of Alexander’s growls sound lower and his highs are used more often and sound way more fierce.
Now to the actual composition of the music! Undeath clearly have a huge Cannibal Corpse influence to their music as it combines the brutal aspects with some technical frills and chugging riffs. This makes a quite a bit of sense because Corpse are from Buffalo which only 60 miles away, and still worshipped by practically every Death Metal Head in existence. While they are influenced, they still have a signature sound that they have been showing us for now three records! Undeath garnered some serious acclaim from their last album “It’s Time To Rise From The Grave”, especially from the death metal world!
The album starts off with some ominous marching as if we are about to embark on some horrific war. On the opening track “Dead From Beyond”. Then immediately goes into fast paced tremolo picking and crazy double bass drums. This is how you engage an audience in brutal fashion, and it truly never ends. The heavy onslaught never slows down at any point in this album.
The first track that the band teased for this record was “Brandish the Blade” and it was very good choice! It builds off an ordinary sounding drums beat, but quickly builds into a quick groovy track that would make anybody headbang along. The circle pits for this song have to be huge due to how it goes for so one! Then it slows down off of a swift guitar riff transition. It does however keep up the brutality then fade into a nice melodic guitar solo before going back into the rapid initial section.
“Disattachment of a Prophylactic In The Brain” is by far and away my favorite track on this album. It starts off with another ordinary drum beat before moving into a groovy funky sounding guitar riff. Then it drastically jerks into a technical fast paced riff. The groove comes back which serves as almost a pre-chorus. The The second section is a brooding, plodding and disgusting section that as before has a breakneck transition to the groovy sounding intro. This might be my track of the year so far, which has some serious competition!
Overall this whole album truly is “More Insane” in every sense of the phrase. Undeath somehow managed to ramp everything up that they are known for in one way or another. The tracks flow great together, are genuinely brutal but still have a groove that would make anyone and their brother headbang. Overall I would feel very comfortable giving this one a 10/10. I think this album will be very high up on my Album Of The Year list and on many others. This is one younger death metal band that has a very high ceiling that they are still exploring.
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