Synopsis:
The perfect example of why a death metal band/album should not be a one man project...
Review:
Though aided by session drummer Magnus "Flingan" Flink, Flesh is the brainchild of Peter “Flesh” (aka Peter Karlsson) a second tier Dan Swano wannabe who serves in such obscure acts as Deceiver, Thrown and most notably, prolific, long running black /thrash act Maze of Torment.
With nine songs of 90’s named tracks (“I Masturbate to Jesus Christ”, “Feast on the Soul”, “Sadistic Penetration”- with groaning sex effects, “Sluts and Whores”), Flesh is a messy mix of Stockholm death metal, namely early Edge of Sanity, early Morbid Angel and thrash, that while certainly imbuing the sense of sloppy but erstwhile death metal of the early 1990’s, comes across as mere demo quality pandering of one man's attempt to resurrect his ‘glory’ days.
For me, to state anything with even a hint of Stockholm death metal isn’t great is a clue as to how rather bland and tasteless this album is. Even a nostalgic Abyss/Tommy Tägtgren production effort trying to recreate the early 90’s sound of Sunlight buzz meets Edge of Sanity’s more clean sound can’t hide the sheer mediocrity of the actual material, despite Karlsson’s best efforts, as the actual songs are just a huge dollop of “meh”.
From thrashy blasting (“Feast of the Soul”) to mid paced atmospheric numbers (“Night of the Funeral Bells”- complete with spooky bells, “Fuck the Romantic-Fuck the Gothic”) and slow churners (“Sadistic Penetration”), Karlsson tries really hard to recreate the past, complete with his raw Martin Van Drunen-like roar. But above and beyond the tone and overall presentation, the songs themselves lack what made that time/genre so great; songwriting. Only moments of “Worship the Soul of Disgust” come close to recreating any form of 90’s glory. The end result is a forgetful album from what appears to be a forgetful act, which is a shame as I’m always down for some Stockholm homage.
Go listen to Hail of Bullets instead.