Written by Zax
Deeds Of Flesh – Nucleus
Technical Brutal Death from California, USA
Released December 11th, 2020
Via Unique Leader Records
8.5/10
Deeds Of Flesh are a truly important and influential act in the death metal scene. Not only do they have several classic album under their belt, but members went on to create my absolute favorite record label, Unique Leader Records.
On November 29th, 2018, founding guitarist Erik Lindmark tragically passed at the young age of 46. This was truly a tragic blow to death metal fans far and wide, and when Deeds Of Flesh announced their first new album in 7 years, we really didn’t know what to expect.
While Erik’s presence is sorely missed, the guitar work on this record is pretty stellar. The riffs are rock solid and there’s a lot of technical ability on display here, the sonic chaos churned out by the guitars on this record is not to be ignored. The bass lines are brilliant as well, very technical, and very loud in the mix. The compositions are pretty complex which makes for a whirlwind of brutality.
The vocalist comes through with some disgusting gutturals while still delivering a pretty clear performance. What’s unique about this record, is that it literally has 11 guest features. ten vocal features and one guitar feature. Now, I listen to a lot of death metal folks. It’s rare I even see one feature on a death metal record, but 11? Unheard of. Some of these features include Bill Robinson of Decrepit Birth, Luc Lemy of Gorguts, John Gallagher of Dying Fetus, Frank Mullen of Suffocation, and none other than motherfucking Corpsegrinder. All these death metal powerhouses bring their own distinct power to the record!
The lyrics seem to focus on alien invasion and sci-fi nerd shit, which is always dope, I’ve never tried to put myself above alien themed death metal, shit’s fun! The atmosphere of the record is pretty cold, dark, and futuristic.
Despite the avalanche of intensity I’ve just described, mostly this album feels warm. It’s nice knowing that after such a devastating blow the band came back in such a strong way. All of the features create the feeling of the death metal community at large coming together to mourn a great musician and a great man. I know it came out sort of late in the year, but do yourself a favor and check this one out folks.
8.5/10
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