FLESHCRAWL — Descend Into the Absurd (review)

FLESHCRAWL — Descend Into the Absurd album cover

Album · 1992 · Death Metal

4/5 · 2020-12-09
UMUR

"Descend Into the Absurd" is the debut full-length studio album by German death metal act Fleshcrawl. The album was released through Black Mark Production in June 1992. Fleshcrawl was formed in 1987 under the Morgöth monicker but changed their name to Suffocation in 1990, to avoid name confusion with their fellow countrymen in Morgoth. For obvious reasons (because of the US Suffocation) they changed their name again to the current one in 1991. Fleshcrawl released the "Lost in a Grave" EP in 1991. There´s been one lineup change since the release of the EP as guitarist Alfred Handke has been replaced by Gero Schmitt.

"Descend Into the Absurd" opens with the ominous atmospheric intro "Between Shadows They Crawl", and for the rest of the 9 track, 54:41 minutes long album, you get exactly what the gloomy intro promises. Old school death metal, which is raw, filthy, and brutal. The pace varies between crushingly heavy doom/death metal parts, brutal mid-paced grooves, and the occasional deathgrind blast beat part, and the rhythmic variation is a great asset to the band´s music (drummer Bastian Herzog deserves a mention for his importance to that part of the band´s music). Lead vocalist Alex Pretzer delivers a convincing intelligible brutal growling vocal performance, which suits the instrumental part of the music perfectly.

The lead guitar work is effective and features the right morbid touch. It´s not flashy in any way, but when it occurs it further enhances the dark atmosphere of the music. The tracks are generally relatively long, with most of them exceeding the 6 minutes mark, but the long playing time is needed and due to the often slow doomy sections. The tracks don´t feel too long though, and Fleshcrawl are one of those old school death metal acts who understand what works and when something should be added for effect and when to hold back and keep it simple. While "Descend Into the Absurd" certainly isn´t an easily accessible listen, Fleshcrawl are still able to create hook laden moments throughout the album. Either a catchy vocal phrase, a lead guitar part, or a particularly memorable riff or rhythm.

The material is well written although Fleshcrawl don´t have the most original sound. It´s not always necessary though if you´re able to deliver your music with the right amount of passion and conviction, and that is no problem for Fleshcrawl, who perform their music with a great organic touch and loads of aggressive brutality. So while it may not be the most groundbreaking release of its era, "Descend Into the Absurd" is still a high quality old school death metal release and a great debut album by Fleshcrawl. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

more than 2 years ago
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UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I didn´t think much of it back then, when a friend of mine purchased the album, and I ripped it to cassette tape to play in my walkman (yeah I´m that old LOL), but it´s grown on me through the years, and although it´s definitely not a perfect release, it is one of my favorites in the genre. It´s the only album by Fleshcrawl that I really enjoy though, as they changed their style considerably already on the next album...

Vim Fuego wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I never knew Fleshcrawl had such bad luck with their name! Ripping good band though.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Never heard of this band. Will have to check this one out.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Not enough people know Fleshcrawl and this brilliant debut album. It´s one of my personal favorite old school death metal albums. They caught the Dismember disease though, and weren´t able to follow this debut up with anything resembling the quality featured here.