First, all of you non-metalheads or wannabes, get out. This ain’t for the faint of heart and the adepts of Metal o’ The Light. Unless you wish to be bludgeoned with Brutal Death Metal of the best Neanderthal fashion, of course. The kind that will leave your ears bleeding and your earphones in shambles. If so, take the Black Pill (the blue and red variants won’t work here) and come in. But you’ll be on your own. Nobody will come to your rescue should this fare not be to your taste. You’ve been warned.
Severe Torture are back from hibernation after a lifetime of 14 years of wait. Yeah, you heard that right. While the usual anxious metal band churns out a piece every two years or so, our Dutch crew of torturers takes all the time in the world. Thus, Torn from the Jaws of Death arrives from a band that flew totally under our radar until it hit the RMR turntables with a mighty roar. And we never suspected a thing.
But, jokes aside, I never knew that visceral Brutal Death Metal could actually be fun. And that even though their fare is total fucking mayhem straight from the start. And you won’t understand a damn thing from Dennis Schreurs‘ mighty roar. To make matters worse, you’ll never be able to shake that feeling of Cannibal Corpse doing terrible things backstage somewhere. But – to our relief – this band sports a relatively benign album art compared to its brethren in sin who seem to be enamored by an addiction to gore.1
So, in essence, Torn from the Jaws of Death won’t deliver any snazzy new version of Death Metal. Instead, their idea of overheated grit stems straight from the Death Metal book of rulez. Done with unwavering energy and a knack for precision. Some beastly yet tasty metallic putrescence, if that makes any sense at all. So, review done, point made, we said it all, right? Ah no, that would be too easy, there’s more.
Severe Torture not only excel in sending you a load of middle-of-the-road ferocious grime. Apart from the aforementioned wicked savagery, the RMR crew also truly enjoyed the forays into some darkly festering version of Technical Death Metal. Specifically in the second half of the short record, the band sometimes sounds like some brutal and gore-laden version of Archspire. And suddenly, Torn from the Jaws of Death spouts some truly astonishing groove out of which rusty yet excellent solos suddenly emerge. Boy, Tear All The Flesh Off The Earth even sports a dual solo for all its worth. Some subtle melodics and a smattering of short-lived ambient interludes artfully lighten up the load somewhat more.
Now, don’t get your hackles up. This record ain’t weak, nor is it soft in any way. Make no mistake, Torn from the Jaws of Death will clobber you off the stage, same as any other good Brutal Death Metal piece. Only these guys dish out their punishment with artful gusto. And what seemed like your typical Neanderthal browbeat fest at first, turned into a showcase of neatly executed Extreme Metal. It takes great songwriting skills and a ton of good ideas to pull this off. Severe Torture took fourteen years to deliver 38 minutes of airtime. But the boatload of grimy and rotten decay the band finally sent to our earphones was worth the wait, for every friggin’ putrid second in lasted. Raw metal brutality served hot ‘n’ hot with artsy benefits. You gotta get there first.
Neat record.2
Record Rating: 7/10 | Label: Season of Mist | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 7 June 2024