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GLUTTONY
Beyond The Veil Of Flesh

Vic (2014)
Rating: 6/10

Just in case you thought there wasn’t enough room for another Swedish death metal band, out from the clutches of the grave come Gluttony.

Armed to the teeth with generic chainsaw riffs, archetypal gravelled vocals and all manner of zombification, this frothing quartet is most certainly a ravenous bunch with talent, but a talent that has come several decades too late. With Entrails and goodness knows how many other bands of this ilk churning out adequate yet formulaic death metal, I’m wondering just how much more I can take.

For those of you interested in the scene, Gluttony were formed back in 2009 by Anders Härén. He was eventually joined by drummer John Henriksson and bassist Max Bergman, who both worked with Härén in My Own Grave. In 2013 the band enlisted the talents of Setherial vocalist Magnus Ödling (aka Infaustus), who replaced Johan Jansson.

Now, as soon as ‘The Revenant’ kicks in we just know where this is going. Yep, it’s fast, furious and catchy death metal, but it does exactly what it says on the tin and nothing more. It’s rampant and violent and soaked in blood, but Gluttony is winning no prizes for originality. The churning, bustling riffs continue with the hectic title track, but once ‘Eaten Alive’ and ‘Raise The Dead’ roll into motion, it’s a case of either sticking with this no frills entity or throwing it out of the window in frustration at its complete lack of originality.

Whether feverish or at a lower tempo, Gluttony are very much Swedish death metal of limited capacity, and I’m sure that like so many other artists of this genre, they are more than happy to opt for that direct approach. Even so, there is only so much a man can take; however much I enjoy the salivating horror of ‘Coffinborn’ with its steady chug or the vehemence of ‘And Then You Rot’, my mind attempts to take me back to a time when all this brutality was completely new on the ears, and yet now all I’m experiencing is a style very much in a rut.

With countless acts sounding nigh on exactly the same, I see no real reason as to why you should purchase Gluttony’s latest slab, unless of course you are a diehard collector of Swedish death metal or can look past the lack of invention and appreciate it for what it is which, when all is said and done, is another average composition to add to the burgeoning Swedish scene.

Neil Arnold

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