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Asphyx - Death... The Brutal Way

Published August 01 2009


*
=Staff's pick

Scorbutics*
The Herald
Bloodswamp
Death The Brutal Way*
Asphyx II (They Died As They Marched)
Eisenbahnmörser*
Black Hole Storm
Riflegun Redeemer*
Cape Horn
The Saw, The Torture, The Pain


Genre Death Metal
Martin Van Drunen
Vocals
Tracks 10
Paul Baayens
Guitar
Runningtime 49 Min.
-
Guitar
Label Century Media
Wannes Gubbels
Bass
Release 22 June 2009
Bob Bagchus
Drums
Country Holland
-
Keyboard
Similar artists Bolt Thrower, Pestilence, Hail Of Bullets

I remember listening to Asphyx back in the days, but I lost track of them along the way. Not because they were bad, quite the contrary, but there were ust so many bands at that time to check out. What I do remember is that I liked the riffs and the vocals which created a solid and brutal unit. Asphyx has disbanded a couple of times during their career and did so the last time 2000. In 2007 they reunited again and Death... The Brutal Way is their latest offering to the scene.

They kick the feast off right away with Scorbutics, a massive kick in your face with grinding and simple riffs. They have several songs of this caliber on the album which is more than the majority of bands is capable of creating. I immediatly come to think of Bolt Thrower as a comparition and I can think of worse bands to be compared to. They have the same ability to create a sonic landscape where you feel like you are being run over by a tank running amok. Massive is a word that I keep coming back to.

The tempo is divided almost equally between uptempo and slower mid tempo, perhaps with a slight advantage for the first, and the album is dynamic enough to keep the interest up from start to finish. There are some parts on this album that serves as fillers, in likeness with for example Obituary who always have some meaningless and slow parts which do absolutely nothing to the song in any way, but they are few here.

The album is mixed by Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity, Bloodbath, and countless other bands) and the production in general is a big contribution to why this is so good. It has a massive and thick sound with a primitive and raw touch to it, and the brutality just rolls along very smoothly and creates a very easily digested slab of death metal. In a way it also sounds typically "dutch", so to speak, without being able to put my finger on what I really mean with that.

One thing that annoys me, though, is something with the drum sound. There are some constant "clicks" that I feel do not belong there. I guess it has something to do with one of the tom drums, and perhaps it is supposed to sound like this, but what do I know? In any case it is a slight disturbance for me at least.

While not really reaching eight points, which is the bar for getting our desired recommendation stamp, I still would like to urge you to check this album up. This is a good and solid dose of classic death metal with massive balls.

See also review of: Incoming Death , Deathhammer

Performance
Originality
Production
Vocals
Songwriting

7

7

7

8

7

 
Summary



7 chalices of 10 - Tommy


Related links:

www.myspace.com/officialasphyx