RSS Feed


OVERTORTURE
A Trail Of Death

Apostasy (2015)
Rating: 8/10

Overtorture is a Swedish band you may be familiar with as they feature ex-Grave man Magnus Martinsson on guitar. He’s joined by fellow death-heads Joel Fornbrant (vocals), Joakim Antman (bass), Andreas Hemmander (rhythm guitar) and Oscar Krumlinde (drums).

The band formed in October 2011, and two years later the 2013 debut opus At The End The Dead Await arrived. For me, it was an energetic death metal romp that wasn’t the usual bog-standard Swedish bump ‘n’ grind, and I’m pleased to say that with A Trail Of Death the band has continued to pulverise the senses with more quality extreme noise. Just like that stirring debut, this latest opus offers up ominous atmospheres punctuated by haunting solos and guttural riffage which is complemented by Fornbrant’s vocal carnage.

I’m always intrigued by bands which, while harbouring several influences, have an ability to throw them in a bubbling cauldron and come up with something ferocious and refreshed. You’re never going to get something staggeringly original in today’s death metal climate, but with the scene being clogged up by too many same sounding bands, Overtorture succeeds in the successful marrying of styles which we’ve become familiar with and yet dosed up with added wicked infection.

So from the off, there’s that rampaging, frothing Swedish kick given all the more punch by Krumlinde’s hammering percussion, but within that mire, I’m hearing an almost doom-like dirge akin to British war dogs Bolt Thrower. The sound is a deep, churning grind of ashen aplomb laced by Fornbrant’s rancid vocal excursions.

As one has come to expect with a myriad of Swedish bands, opener ‘Embrace The End’ is catchy and ruthless at the same time, but it’s also a technique which encompasses that classic Floridian death metal nuance by way of that almost no frills yet gargantuan intensity supplied by the dark riffing and melancholic melodies of the leads.

‘Embrace The End’ may be the ideal slab of meat to get things under way, but it pales in comparison to the black waves of ‘Mirrorkin’ where Krumlinde excels himself as a percussive beast, flailing wildly amidst a barrage of rhythm guitar and murky bass trundles. Featuring Jörgen Sandström (ex-Grave, ex-Entombed, Krux, The Project Hate MCMXCIX) on guest vocals, this is classic death metal incorporating tight, sinister mid-tempo passages that exude ominous arrogance but which then make way for head-cracking pace.

‘Razor Twilight’ is equally sonic; beginning with a slow, buzzing grind as if one is starting up a rusty chainsaw before taking on a wicked plodding, stomp of eye-gouging riffage. Again, the sinister aspect gives way to annihilating pace, Overtorture simply happy to exist as a juggernaut of varying speed although remaining at its most potent with the faster segments of hate. While so many contemporary acts seem to be completely bereft of the arrogance of old, Overtorture are more than happy to mock in derision and cast aside the competition with those weighty chunks of swagger.

The title track again delivers that suspenseful soundtrack-styled opening before becoming a crushing behemoth of abysmal dehydrated snarls and Krumlinde’s ever consuming drum weight. Filtering between those cracks are sombre solos of gloom, haunting the ears as grief-stricken hails before the lumbering riffs take over in masterful fashion. And this is the basic formula applied by Overtorture in an effort to become contenders to the heavyweight throne.

I’m still unsure as to whether these guys have enough to become a truly memorable death metal machine, but there are enough glimpses of gore and gloom here to hint at further majesty. Nowhere more evident than with the excellent ‘Maggots In Her Heart’ and my favourite skull-crunchers ‘Primitive Impulse’ and ‘The Night Sky’, the former being a menacing mid-tempo chugger while the latter is one of the album’s highs in regards to a fusion of dark melody and full on aggression.

Thankfully, this isn’t a predictable Swedish death metal opus, as Overtorture have more in common with those Floridian ancestors which made the death metal scene a household necessity in the early 90s. Anyone with a passion for fleshy old school death metal between the American and European scene will no doubt revel in the punishing nuances this sophomore album has to offer. Good solid death metal is very much the order of the day here, and you can’t ask for more than that.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share