Time Signature
Guitar from my sleeve...
Genre: old school death metal
Landmine Marathon are back with another relentless onslaught of dirty old school death metal in the form of their fourth album Gallows, which is destined to become a hit among fans of 90s death metal.
Landmine Marathon appear to take inspiration in the Stockholm-type of death metal which was quite popular in the 90s, but wrapping it in a more modern sound (actually, in terms of production, Landmine Marathon's sound is quite massive and potent). Combining heavy riffing with more typical death metal riffing, the style on this release is retro and, to some extent primitive, without ever being too simple. And like the Stockholm-based death metal bands did in the 90s, Landmine Marathon infuse hardcore punk elements into their compositions on this album (with 'Cloaked in Red' virtually being more of a hardcore track than a death metal track), and this use of hardcore elements really makes the tunes on this album come across as energetic and dynamic and also generates a nice contrast with heavier Bolt Thrower-like tunes, such as the mighty closer 'Morbidity'.
The musicianship is top notch and Landmine Marathon are really tight and good at what they do - both in terms of playing and writing classic-styled death metal. Especially worth noting is Grace Perry's insane and aggressive growls - who said that girls can't kick ass fronting a death metal act?!?
Gallows is a massive death metal attack, showing that old school death metal is still alive and (seriously) kicking (ass). Fans of Stockholm-styled death metal and modern retro death metal along the lines of Elitist's "Fear in a Handful of Dust" should definitely check out Landmine Marathon's latest effort.
(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)