Unitron
Fleshcraft is the debut album from death metal band Painface.
Anders Colsefni left Slipknot when they decided to replace him with Corey Taylor on lead vocals pushing the band into super-stardom. Of course they also drastically altered their sound, getting rid of all of the jazz, funk, death metal, and various other styles of Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. Colsefni eventually re-formed his old band Painface, and continued through the underground while Slipknot went ahead and became a household name with their more accessible sound. So does Painface continue where Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. left off?
No, not really, as Fleshcraft features a much more straight-forward groovy death metal sound with the occasional thrash riff. Not that this is a bad thing, as this is a killer album. Songs like "Cave Dancer", "The New Son", "Fallen Silent", "Umbral Quest", "Dead to Me", "Last Rites", and "Step Into the Dark" are among the highlights of the album. The album is pretty consistent though, so most of the songs are of equal quality. It's also a short album, clocking in at just over 32 minutes, so it doesn't get boring.
Colsefni's vocals are fantastic as always, usually staying in growl/snarl/gruff range for this album. His gruff vocals fit surprisingly well with some of the melodies. The guitar work is in total groove-death fashion, with groovy main riffs and classic metal riffing and soloing. The production is decent, albeit a bit rough so the rhythm section sometimes sounds a bit murky. Thankfully, this is death metal so it can work. Gorefest is a good reference to the overall sound of the band.
While I enjoy their recent EP more, this album is certainly worth a listen if you're a fan of death 'n' roll in the vein of bands like Gorefest. Hope you found this review helpful, Feel free to comment!