Gruesome - Dimensions of Horror (Relapse) 2016
1. Forces of Death (3:57)
2. Raped by Darkness (3:06)
3. Amputation (2:32)
4. Hellbound (3:52)
5. Seven Doors (2:23)
6. Dimensions of Horror (3:46)
It's hard to criticize a band that is on a mission like Gruesome. The quartet broke out last year with a debut album (Savage Land) and lineup of seasoned heavy metal alumni who have Exhumed, Malevolent Creation and Possessed listed on their collective resumes. Together these guys are crafting old-school death metal in it's rawest form but with one singular motive in mind, to pay homage to forefathers of death metal, Death. The band's first album definitely had it's roots in Death's first album "Scream Bloody Gore". While the sound was so closely embodied to that album the songs themselves still seemed fresh and new in an age when death metal has become so complex that terms like Math Metal and Technical Death Metal are being invoked. "Dimensions of Horror" is the band's second release and is an EP that again pays heavy homage to Florida's Death, a continuation of the sound heard on "Savage Land". Each of this album's six tracks sound as if they were written during the genre's formative years. The album is chock full of heavy, raw and primitive rhythms, old-school growls, horror-flick inspired lyrics and plenty of thrash-metal influences. The band makes absolutely no apologies for what they are trying to do; Death metal rooted in the 1980's. As such, I find this album to be exactly what is advertised and quite enjoyable at that. No, Gruesome can never overcome the legacy and nostalgia of the original, but they certainly do a fine job of continuing that legacy in the absence of the original.