Death metal. Death fucking metal. One of the most primal, neanderthal genres of music ever put to tape. And yet, one that seems to have been co-opted by some to be a stuffy, regimented genre. Recent comments about how bands look and dress just add fuel to the fire that it’s a genre to be gatekept. It isn’t. At its core, it’s about letting loose and having fun while at the same time, making some of the most extreme music imaginable. Thankfully, a lot of the newer bands coming through know this and with that in mind, let’s talk about Undeath.
A band that have become the go-to for death metal in the modern age, they undoubtedly have a very throwback, 80s Florida-inspired sound (think Morbid Angel with some Obituary stomp), with some modern production flourishes and a healthy dose of the devil’s lettuce thrown in. Their last record It’s Time…To Rise From The Grave was universally praised, even receiving rave reviews from everybody’s favourite bald music critic Anthony Fantano. The band’s songwriting was ahead of most of their peers and in the track ‘Rise From The Grave’ they created a modern extreme metal anthem.
And so began the hype, the putting of the band on a pedestal as the saviour of death metal. Many tours cemented the band as a force to be reckoned with live and during the incubation for this album, fans were silently hopeful that things could go to yet another level for the band, despite only being six years old. Thankfully, Undeath have not only upped the ante but have created possibly the best straight up death metal record of the decade in More Insane.
A big reason for More Insane being so good is Mark Lewis. The legendary producer with Cannibal Corpse and Krisiun credits to his name, among countless others, has made the album sound massive. Not a term you usually associate with this genre, but as soon as lead single ‘Brandish The Blade’ burst to live, it’s clear this wasn’t just going to be a bog standard typically filthy album. That isn’t to say the album is without menace, as it still maintains that level of disgust the band have become known for, but ramped up. Alexander Jones’ “cookie monster in a blender” vocals are much more present in the mix and the Slayer inspired rapid-fire solos, for example on the pummelling ‘Disputatious Malignancy’ are ear-scorching and really get elevated by the mix.
It deserves to take the band up a notch and though there is obviously a ceiling on this kind of music, don’t be too surprised to see them potentially sneak onto some more mainstream heavy bands tours. Songs like the drumming whirlwind of ‘Sutured For War’ to the pit inducing stomper that is ‘Bounty Hunter’ beg for a wider audience, such is their quality.
This is a warning shot across the entire genre; it now belongs to the youth. Undeath stand alongside bands like the more hardcore, fight inducing 200 Stab Wounds and the more expansive, progressive-minded Tomb Mold, not afraid to challenge the standards set before them and not afraid to embrace modern flourishes in their music. This isn’t just the best death metal album of the year, it isn’t just the best extreme metal album of the year, it’s one of the best albums of the year.