Deeds of Flesh - Mark of the Legion
Review: From an unknown generation of American death metal Deeds of Flesh sculpt their bursts of violent energy with essential rhythm creating shapes from which thematic ideas emerge, undulating within a percussive rhythm section and abrupt, instantaneous arachnoid motion in textures of riff creation. Guttural vocals boom through hollowed sections of the carcass of humanity as intricate voices of guitar and percussion layer ideas which ferment and erupt as colliding themes which will cycle through a mating ritual of nothingness and infinity before recycling themselves in finality. A vigilant sense of space and time as setting for a narrative of gurgling, volatile music anchors this work while its playfulness in texture expands it.
Often careless or offhandedly direct in its use of transition and tone center, this album like the other recent offerings of Deeds of Flesh is an ancient computer punchcard encoding the grimoire of exhalted evil in silences and blasts, interrupting itself to parenthetically issue the code which then generates its themes in riff progressions that seem random until the themes of the song are clear and its conflict resolved. Cryptic through complex use of straightforward elements, this release emphasizes listenability and worthiness of melody shadowing theme in its songs of driving, relentless percussive death metal.
Where the proliferation of themes in organic covering peaks, it is unified by a sense of melody which can etch within the dual intervals used for a foundation to motif, as means of clarity and opening of potential action in variant theme, the shapes which complement established motions such to advance song through narrative and seasonal undulation. Human in its approach but inhuman in its tactics, music such as this renders the listener numb while feeding them a viral code of anti-value in combat with anti-nothingness.
As a three-piece this band are highly effective, with aggressive vocals balancing percussion and content enfolded into lyricism by distorted stringed instruments, and their use of theme is advancing per album to the point of some familiarity. A dimension remains, swinging closer with the complexity and ease of technique to this pounding and irreparably damaging album.