UMUR
"Acid Mouth Strangulation" is the 5th full-length studio album by Finnish blackened sludge metal Fleshpress and the first studio album by the band since "Pillars (2007)". "Acid Mouth Strangulation" was released through Svart Records in October 2011.
The music on the album is sludge metal with a blackened edge. The riffs are brick heavy, the rythms likewise and the vocals are raspy and delivered with a caustic conviction. When the band let loose during the most energetic parts they really shine with an irresistible heavy and sludgy groove but during the more hypnotic, repetitive and mellow parts the music unfortunately drags a bit. The first couple of minutes of the opening track "Glass Trails" is an example of when the latter style works well though while the last 12 minutes of the 19:14 minutes long closing track "Oblivion Persistent" is an example of the opposite. In the end, with only 3 tracks distributed over a 36:02 minutes long playing time, the dragging parts last a little too long not to affect my rating.
The atmosphere on the album is ridden with despair and desperation and the band´s ability to create a bleak and dark atmosphere is one of the assets of the album.
"Acid Mouth Strangulation" is a well produced, well played and for the most part well written album and if it wasn´t for some of the more repetitive dragging parts I think a 4 star (80%) rating would have been fully warranted. As it is now I´d say a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.