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UNDEATH
It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave

Prosthetic (2022)
Rating: 7.5/10

The years have flown by since Undeath’s promising 2020 debut album Lesions Of A Different Kind, and now this Rochester, New York-based outfit has risen once again to treat us to more.

I’ve looked past the terrible video for ‘Rise From The Grave’; it seems band’s today just can’t make promotional clips like they used to. But as a track it was a great way for the combo to announce its return, coming hard with a strong Carcass vibe in those massive riffs.

Undeath is the sort of death metal act which ferociously loiters amidst eye-gouging percussion, Bolt Thrower-styled grinding and Cannibal Corpse-esque butchery. And It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave doesn’t do anything drastically different from the debut, and why should it?

These guys craft catchy, chunks of blood-flecked phlegm propelled by Alexander Jones’ meaty grunts, while behind him the rest of the maniacs build fleshy walls of glistening blubber and dripping fat.

There’s always room for melody though, as witnessed with ‘Rise From The Grave’. And that vein continues on cuts such as opener ‘Fiend For Corpses’ which brings thick layers of dense axework, growling percussion and thundering bass licks – it’s just one big mash of cysts, innards and pulsating gore.

With the dynamic of the band there’s always that foul fume of drudgery, deeply melodic in the style of early 90s Carcass, mixed with the smothering chops of, say, Immolation. The band doesn’t sacrifice speed though and the aforementioned ‘Fiend For Corpses’ brings frenzied rallies of wild soloing and thrashy percussion, while ‘Defiled Again’ hammers with pounding drums and deep, meandering chugging.

The scattering of leads, the effortless dismal breaks and the all-round diversity means that Undeath keeps us on our toes. It’s certainly not overtly technical or progressive and the old school flavours are strong, but it’s the sheer intensity and suffocating density which impresses me most.

The Bolt Thrower grinding often comes to the fore as the menacing ‘Enhancing The Dead’ rumbles ominously, as does ‘Head Splatted In Seven Ways’ and the mammoth bludgeoning of ‘Bone Wrought’. Meanwhile, closer ‘Trampled Headstones’ just foams with unrelenting prowess, and the orgy of rattling percussion in tandem with those chesty coughs makes for a truly twisted companionship.

Due to their style there’s no denying the influences from all manner of classic bands within the genre, like a streak of Suffocation topped with some Finnish sauce. So in a sense you know how this record is going to unravel, but it never feels stale or derivative even though the thrills you may crave are scant.

Describing Undeath as a solid death metal act is in fact a compliment, because the framework within which the band operates is so fleshy and punishing. Repeated listens will reveal numerous layers which may not be apparent from the offset, but if you consider yourself a death metal fan then It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave should be on your playlist.

Of course, for murkier climes you may want to delve into Cerebral Rot, as a lot of “modern” death metal seems to be trickling into that deep, cavernous style. But as it stands, Undeath’s new release doesn’t blow the mind but does reduce it to a pulp.

Neil Arnold

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