UMUR
"Multiplex Massacre" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US, Oregon based grindcore/death metal act Blood Freak. The album was released through Razorback Records in April 2007. It´s the successor to "Live Fast, Die Young... And Leave a Flesh Eating Corpse!" from 2006. Blood Freak is a one-man act consisting of "Maniac" Neil Smith, who performs all vocals and instruments on the album. Smith also recorded, produced, and mixed the album himself, at his own Midnight Mania Studios.
Smith already showed great promise with Blood Freak´s debut album "Sleaze Merchants (2003)" and that promise was fullfilled on "Live Fast, Die Young... And Leave a Flesh Eating Corpse! (2006)". "Multiplex Massacre" further expands on the goregrind/death metal style of the two predessesors and Smith successfully incorporate elements from both thrash, traditional heavy metal, and doom metal, to the core goregrind/death metal sound. The vocal style is still strongly influenced by early Carcass and we´re treated to both high pitched aggressive snarling and lower more unintelligible growling. The lyrical subjects are as gory and humourous as ever, which song titles like "Cleavage Cleaver", "If You Have Guts... He Wants Them!", and "Poultry Pervert", are a testimony to.
The material on the 13 track, 33:12 minutes long album are well written, and for the most part catchy and memorable. The use of 70s/80s horror/exploitation movie samples has been scaled back compared to the use of samples on the predecessor. The samples were an important part of that album, but because of the use of new stylistic elements and the variation within tracks that the thrash, trad., and doom metal elements provide the core style with, the samples aren´t missed. "Multiplex Massacre" is filled to the brim with powerful and raw organic riffs and drumming, quite a few well played guitar solos, and the above mentioned "classic" goregrind vocals. The variation between fast blasting goregrind parts and mid-paced death/thrash/heavy metal parts work wonders.
The powerful, raw, and organic sounding production is the icing on the cake. It´s a perfect sound for the material featured on the album. "Multiplex Massacre" is not just one step forward, but two steps forward from the already great predecessors, and Smith really hits something special with this release. While in many ways a relatively standard goregrind/death metal release, there are a lot of ways it´s not. And that´s what makes this one a special listen for fans of the genre, in addition to the high level musicianship, the well sounding production, and the well written material. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is fully deserved.