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It
is admirable the quality of riffage contained in
this second full-length, which in all make up about 85%
of what this album is. The drums? Maybe you won’t even
notice them. They play their part but are somewhat
subdued. They keep the beat but maintain a low profile.
The prominence of the guitars is a wise move. Especially
in a record with such an electric fuzzy and hairy guitar
sound which is like a perfected version of the Swedish
death metal sound of the early 90’s, gritty and raw and
heavy, immensely heavy. But as a listener, you got to
let the riffage suck you in. Massive guitars that
cruelly walk all over you, cryptic melodies that are
overwhelming and irresistible at the same time.
We knew Hooded
Menace was bringing on the quality when we first heard their
debut Fulfill The Curse. Theirs was a classic sound, like a
slowed down Asphix or a legless interpretation of the good ol’
Entombed, Hooded Menace construct melodic yet very sluggish
songs with long lasting power. These are classics in the making
that embody the best of both subgenres; death metal and doom.
The melodies are subdued, but obvious enough to make of Never
Cross the Dead an immediate album. It’s all in the guitars baby,
and beyond the low tones, there are these higher pitches that
haunt you in.
The vocals are
monstrous, deep and cavernous bowel movements that make LG
Petrov sound like Jim Gillette. Like the guitars, these are the
creation of Lasse Pyykkö, a man who’s apparently pretty busy
lately. I remember him from Phlegethon, a totally
underappreciated band that put out the great demo Visio Dei Beatifica back in 1991. It is lately however that he seems to be
on a deadly roll. In the last couple of years he has also worked
on other projects like Acid Witch, Claws and Vacant Coffin. As
it is always the case, quality varies a great deal.
Never Cross the
Dead takes his music to another level though. This is excellent.
This is doom death metal at its finest. From the awesome melodic
changes in the title track (lyrically penned by Razorback head
honcho Billy Nocera) to the sweeping moroseness of “The House of
Hammer” and the lurching groove of “Rituals of Mortal Cremation”
this may be a solid contender for best Finnish doom album of the
decade.
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