Gorefest
La Muerte

In the year of our Lord 2005, an unexpected yet welcome return to the scene occurred (under the banner of the powerful Nuclear Blast) of a historic name belonging to that primordial death metal wave that knew how to "inflict" so much satisfaction to the genre's enthusiasts: Gorefest.

The platter in question marks a clear and unmistakable comeback towards more orthodox, typically old school sounds, free from seventies-oriented contaminations that marked the path of the Dutch combo (leading them to disband) in the wake of the release of their masterpiece "Erase", with albums like "Soul Survivor" and "Chapter 13", much appreciated by metal critics (we are in the second half of the '90s and in a period where death is a now asphyxiated and dying genre, only those who knew how to mix their artistic cards well by incorporating the most disparate and heterogeneous influences, resisted longer against the inevitable compositional stagnation), but that, due to the march of time, now show their limits, no longer appearing fresh or homogeneous but rather disjointed and somewhat forced.

Returning to our "La Muerte", we can safely affirm that the ancient mastery of our heroes has not been lost, the guitars entrusted to the Harthnoon/Bonebakker duo are powerful and robust, groovy as rarely heard in sector albums, capable of magnificently reviving the band's trademarks, namely the dissonant harmonizations and the passionate solos, while the rhythm section, as always overseen by the excellent Ed Waby, is seismic and exciting, never chaotic or imprecise. Finally, one cannot help but be pleasantly surprised to note that about 10 years later, the power of J.C. De Koeyer's profoundly deep and angry growl has lost nothing, instead finding clarity and gutturality at the expense of the ever-increasing use of unintelligible vocals, as is the norm with many death and brutal bands.

That said, it must be stated that the average level of songwriting has not yet reached its full potential and splendor (this will occur only with the release of the subsequent and explosive "Rise to Ruin", 2007), so alongside overflowing and evocative songs like "Rogue State", we find less successful tracks like "Malicious Intent" or "The Call", where the illuminating ideas are lacking, or one encounters somewhat manneristic pieces like "Of Death and Chaos", certainly pleasant to listen to, but subsequently leaving no evident marks in the listener's memory.

On the other hand, we highlight the initial triad ("For the Masses", "When the Dead Walk the Earth", "You Could Make Me Kill") truly monumental, a wonderful business card for all those who still do not know the fury and the sulfuric atmospheres that Gorefest can create, the spectacular and groovy "Exorcism" and "Man to Fall" and the changing and vaguely Carcass-flavored (always a source of inspiration for our heroes, inspiration not plagiarism!!!) "The New Gods".

Regarding recording and artwork, there is nothing to complain about, the great care devoted does not affect the artistic naturalness of the final product.

Ultimately, "La Muerte" is a good credit opening for all the metalheads who, for reasons of age, were not present in the golden times of death metal and for all those who wish to relive ancient sounds not yet definitively lost.

Happy listening.