siLLy puPPy One of the stranger finds in the death metal universe is the Estonian band NEOANDERTALS that formed in 2003 near the eastern village of Otepää by bassist / vocalist Rain Pohlak along with drummer Roland Seer. The next year they filled the lineup with guitarist Toomas Keermann joining the ranks but he would soon leave before any recording time took place. The duo decided that they would from then on perform a brutal style of death metal with absolutely no guitars whatsoever and thus created a sound that consists of only bass, percussion and vocals. The freedom from the dominant guitar sounds gives this an deep brutal hellish sound unlike any other death metal band i’ve personally experienced.

As it turned out, the sound suited the band’s thematic lyrical content quite well which focused around the world of the ancient neanderthals. Why the moniker is spelled as it is remains a mystery to me but after the duo got their feet wet on their demo “Neander Valley” they were ready for primetime and released this debut album NEANDERTHALS WERE MASTER BUTCHERS in 2007. This is supposed to be a concept album that focuses on the darker side of neanderthals that mixes anthropology with death metal fantasies. The stories capture the gloomier side of neanderthal behavior such as defleshing, burial rites, their butchering habits and the classics like decapitation and of course the rise of neo-neanderthal zombies!

Despite the concept it’s unlikely you’ll understand a fucking thing because this is death metal, baby! And staying true to the genre, the guttural growls are incomprehensible however what is unusual about this band is that this barbaric experimentalism is actually quite suited for a primeval frolic throughout the bass driven sonosphere. What NEONDERTALS deliver is an incessant pummelation of technical death metal drumming and extraordinarily brutal bass antics, the likes of which give my fingers blisters just listening to this stuff. While the avant-groove is laced in technical wizardry, there are moments when a groove metal chill out in comparison is allowed to calm things down. After listening to this for a while it also seems that the vocals really start to sound like a caveman making metal music if such a thing could happen.

The album is appropriately short for a brutal death metal album just shy of the thirty minute run and like most other guitar oriented bands existing in this niche, this one is laced with fury and fire and mostly sounds the same from one track to the next at least to the untrained ears. While the timbres and tones are almost exclusively in the lower reaches of the bass, there are a few moments when Rain delivers some bass solos on the highest registers possible which offers some interesting contrast. The drums are just on fire the whole time. This really does sound like chaotic caveman music! This unique guitarless death metal is interesting in a couple of ways. On the positive side, it really allows the bass and drums to thrive in a way not possible with a guitar but on the flip side don’t offer up as much variety as the guitar can muster up. Still though, not a bad slog through the frenetosphere and definitely unique sounding.