siLLy puPPy
Something about the nation of Belarus killing it in recent years on the death metal circuit. This nation was reduced in population by approximately 2/3 courtesy of the Nazis in WW2 and ever since has had a fierce warrior mentality and that spirit shows in the large number of excellent death metal bands emerging not just from the capital city Minsk but from all corners of this landlocked nation situated between Poland and Russia.
VENOM SYMBIOTE comes from Hantsavichy in the Brest Region of Belarus and formed in 2016 by Sergey Minko (vocals, guitars) who is the only member to have stuck with it to the present. The remaining members, Serhey Zhdan (vocals) joined in 2020 and Vitaly Kitov (bass) and Alexandr Novitski (drums) joined in 2022 just in time for the band’s second album ISHIMURA’S DEAD FLESH SHELTER.
What a title and one that will go over your head unless you’re aware of the horror video game Dead Space and the scariest part of the game, the Ishimura. The game is set in the USG Ishimura spaceship in the 26th century and features mutated undead horrors and all kinds of cult religion stuff. It’s the perfect subject matter for a death metal band and VENOM SYMBIOTE was more than happy to pick up the baton and run with it! The themes this band tackles regard everything from space and aliens to xenomophs and genetic diseases.
Stylistically VENOM SYMBIOTE delivers a brutal death metal style called slam death metal which focuses on slow and mid-tempo sections rather than the frenetic fast as you can play shtick. The album features 11 tracks and runs barely over 37 minutes. The band is quite competent in that as it chugs along it changes things up enough to sustain interest as slam or brutal styles of death metal come become monotonous quite quickly if not spiced up for the attention span. ISHIMIRA’S DEAD FLESH SHELTER primarily chugs along at mid-tempo furor but does break into faster tempos and chaotic frenzies where guitars, bass and drums do their own thing.
While the instruments change things up a bit, the vocal style is more of a one trick pony or should i say piggy that squeals its way through the entire set. Mostly set to low guttural pig squeals, occasional Serhey Zhdan lets a high pitched squeal out that is effectively blood curdling! Overall this is a pretty no nonsense but effective slice of slam death metal with incessant chugging, plenty of guitar slides and squeals (to play off the vocals) and the drummer has a keen sense of knowing when to change things up.
In fact all these guys have their hands on the pulse of the musical creativity and add a stellar production job that allows eerie cosmic atmospheres to seep in before, after and occasionally during the tracks themselves and ISHIMURA’S DEAD FLESH SHELTER ends up being a pretty cool album. What’s not to like? Friggin’ cool themes, smokin’ hot musical mojo and zero compromise in the death metal department with plenty of changes, awesome guitar tones and a production job that suits the album to a T. Much better than i was expecting and i dig it.