DISMEMBER — Death Metal (review)

DISMEMBER — Death Metal album cover Album · 1997 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
"Death Metal" is the 4th full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Dismember. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in August 1997. It´s the successor to "Massive Killing Capacity" from 1995 and features the exact same lineup as the predecessor.

Not much has happened with the musical style since the predecessor either, so we´re still treated to old school Swedish death metal with a slight melodic edge. It´s predominantly mid- to fast-paced, without ever reaching really fast territories. Matti Kärki has a relatively distinct sounding voice and intelligible growling vocal style, the rhythm section deliver an organic assault, and the distinct distorted old school Swedish buzzing guitar tone is there and accounted for too (as well as the occassional melodic guitar solo). So this is pretty much Dismember as they´ve always sounded.

The material on the 12 track, 40:16 minutes long album are solid enough but seldom remarkable. It´s not always easy to tell the tracks apart and it quickly feels like the band are out of ideas as most tracks feature the same rhythm patterns, the same pace, and the same riff ideas and vocal lines. A heavy mid-paced track like "Let the Napalm Rain" is therefore a nice piece of variation, and thankfully there are a couple of more standout tracks like that one featured on the album ("Mistweaver" for example sounds like an attempt to create a new "Dreaming in Red", although it doesn´t exactly come close to matching that classic Dismember song), but the material is generally a bit one-dimensional in nature.

"Death Metal" features a sound production, that can only be applied to Dismember´s music. The above mentioned buzzing guitar tone is by now a signature part of the band´s sound, but it´s probably an aquired taste if the listener can appreciate such a distinct sounding guitar tone for the duration of the album. So upon conclusion "Death Metal" is an album with both good and not so great qualities. Personally I´m still a bit baffled how a band who started out as strong as Dismember did with "Like an Everflowing Stream (1991)", so quickly became this unremarkable. Dismember´s strength is the fact that they have a unique sound, but their downfall is the one-dimensional songwriting and their limited abilities as musicians. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
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