GLUTTONY - Beyond The Veil of Flesh

Imagine a perfect, apocalyptic storm; a huge swell of crashing waves, roaring thunder, and lightning that cracks the sky. Oh yeah and don’t forget that this storm has unleashed an endless flow of mindless, ravenous zombies who want devour you whole. All at once, you’re overrun by an onslaught of riffs, towering drums and massive vocals. Gluttony conjures these images with their music and their record Beyond the Veil of Flesh hammers the listener until the bitter end.

Gluttony brands themselves as a death metal band “from the olden days”. That could mean a lot of different things, but in their case and in my considered opinion, these boys draw from the great melting pot that was Swedish death metal. Influences from Entombed, Bloodbath (who I believe to be the perfect DM band), Grave, early Amon Amarth (some of the riffs just sound as epic) and the almighty Dismember (who are without a doubt my personal favourites of DM) are all found on this record and they blend all of these great pieces into their own style of face-pummeling music.

Gluttony succeeds by keeping things simple. The guitars have the classic Swedish, buzz saw sound, the bass thickens the mix nicely and the drum parts don’t ever stray into a complicated mess of fills, keeping the songs together tightly. (Something I appreciate greatly as a drummer) The lyrics on each song remind you that this band is hoping to conjure vile images in your head. Visions of cannibalism, dark nights filled with wights, reckless acts of violence and the undead will flood your mind after listening to this record. Gluttony has definitely put a lot of effort into their sound, and this record is a reflection of the care put into their craft.

My one gripe, if you could call it one, is that maybe I wish there was one, just one harmonized riff in a few of the songs, but that’s just me being a brat who loves all things harmonized, and knows that for this band it’s not necessary. So my one gripe is of course based on personal preference. (In every review I write I will out myself as a total dick somewhat!) Now, back to the review…

The overall production of the album isn’t too glossy, leaving some of the rawer, grittier sound intact, which I think enhances the final product. Beyond the Veil of Flesh sounds like an older Amon Amarth record in production, but has all of the elements of the classic more ferocious sounding Swedish records. Gluttony definitely knocked this one of out of the park and I hope they continue to make records like this. [Vic Records]
9.0/10
- P. Carparelli