Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada for those devoid of any Northern American knowledge) is home to a dog on brutal death metal outfit by the name of Thy Flesh Consumed. Doesn’t this sound like a band that has been around for 20 years? It seems like some old school Swedish death metal group. In reality though, Thy Flesh Consumed, while not being Internationally touted, have just released their fourth album which is a huge achievement for an independent metal band with smaller label support. Unrepentant, the band’s latest undertaking released earlier this year, is a brutal affair with riffs that beckon thoughts of Cannibal Corpse and mid-career Carcass, but fails to make as much headway as their more famous peers, despite the obvious forthright attitude of the band to keep progressing no matter what.

As I said, Thy Flesh Consumed know their way around a brutal riff and beat, however, as any experienced death metal listener can tell you, blind brutality will get you nowhere without a groove or some other element to catch your attention. No, this isn’t pop where choruses have to contain sicky sweet melodies about chasing after boys, but death metal still needs moments that want to stir up that raw intensity in the listener. Sadly, if I was watching Thy Flesh Consumed live, I’d gradually become bored with the show. Would be it intense? Most likely, but I feel like once you have heard one song, you have heard the hardest shit these guys are going to put out with no variation in between. Anyone heard Hate Eternal? While not similar directly similar in terms of style, the likelihood of monotony kicking in is right on par with the likes of Hate Eternal which literally made me fall asleep one time at a live event.

Once this album ended, I had trouble remembering even how many tracks there were, or where one started and ended. It’s a bad sign when an album blurs together with no sense of remembrance to its listener. What’s the point? I will say though, that fans of old school brutal death metal may find Unrepentant entertaining as it is delightfully devoid of ANY bass drops or core influences. Trendwhores Thy Flesh Consumed are not, but that doesn’t mean there is all that much that stands out from their product.

EH…

Similar Artists: Cannibal Corpse, Carcass

1.    Siege Engine Of Unreligion
2.    The Disciplined Scorn
3.    Blood Drenched Creation
4.    The Demolition Of Thought
5.    Ordinance Subservience
6.    Devout Heathen
7.    Hasten The Apocalypse
8.    Sacrilege And Clarity
9.    Thralldom Of The Crowning Mania

Peter Mestre – Vocals
Gerald Smith – Drums
Dan Jamieson – Guitar
Dave Burns – Guitar
Ross Vickers – Bass

Diminished Fifth Records

http://www.thyfleshconsumed.com/

http://www.myspace.com/deathgrindmachine

Review by CODY