UMUR
"Feast of Flesh" is the debut full-length studio album by multi-national death metal act Bone Gnawer. The album was released through Pulverised Records in June 2009. Bone Gnawer were formed in 2008 by former Massacre frontman Kam Lee and prolific Swedish musician Rogga Johansson (The Grotesquery, Paganizer, Ribspreader, Demiurg...etc.), who handles the bass and performs backing vocals on this project (he ususally plays guitar and performs lead vocals). The two also work together in The Grotesquery. The lineup is completed by Morgan Lie on drums and Ronnie Björnström on guitars/backing vocals.
The music on the album is old school death metal combining the best from the Swedish and the American scenes. Unlike the horror concept story themed albums of The Grotesquery, which is a project that musically shares a lot of similarities with Bone Gnawer, the lyrical themes and imagery on "Feast of Flesh" are focused heavily on gore and on cannibalism in particular. Song titles like "Cannibal Cook-Out", "Sliced & Diced", "Feast of Flesh", and the reference to the 1980 Italian Joe D'Amato directed cannibal movie "Anthropophagus" ("The Grim Reaper" in USA) in "Anthropophagus Beast" also tell that story.
Musically you get everything you´d expect from an old school death metal release. Crushingly heavy doomy parts, mid-paced death metal grooves, and faster parts too (no blast beats). Kam Lee is one of the more distinct sounding death metal vocalists out there, and his intelligible deep growling and higher pitched screams suit the music well. The material are generally well written and for the most part infectiously catchy. Although it´s certainly both dark and brutal like you´d expect from a death metal release, there´s also an occasional humourous edge, that I think works in the the band´s favour. Particularly the way Kam Lee performs his vocal lines on "Cannibal Cook-Out" stands out as good B-Horror movie fun. Some might find it to be bad taste, but if you enjoy campy, then this certainly applies.
"Feast of Flesh" is well performed and well produced too, and upon conclusion it´s obvious that the combination of Kam Lee and Rogga Johansson is a winner (also if you take into consideration the high quality of their Grotesquery output). So if you enjoy old school death metal with intelligible growling vocals, and gore/cannibal themed vocals, delivered by skilled musicians, and written in a catchy memorable style, I can highly recommend "Feast of Flesh". A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.