BONE GNAWER

I guess I've not been paying attention to Kam Lee's (ex-MANTAS/DEATH, MASSACRE, ex-DENIAL FIEND) whereabouts since he left DENIAL FIEND. Having not read any biographical/press information on BONE GNAWER's "Feast of Flesh", I began playing the CD and thought, "Wow, this is good stuff and it reminds me of DENIAL FIEND, especially those Lee-like vocals." Well, duh! Granted, "Feast of Flesh" does not sound exactly like Lee's most recent former band (e.g. the hardcore tinged gang shouts aren't present),but the man's penchant for making gory 'n groovy death metal with chunks of bloody riffs and memorable choruses is written all over this bad boy.

A cross between the old school worlds of Swedish and U.S. death metal, BONE GNAWER includes in its ranks not only Lee, but also Rogga Johansson (PAGANIZER, RIBSPREADER, BANISHED FROM INFERNO, DEMIURG, etc),Morgan Lie (NAGLFAR),and Ronnie Bjornstrom (RIBSPREADER, HATE AMMO). As if that weren't enough to entice you, guest vocalists Steve from IMPETIGO (title track),Dopi of MACHETAZO/DISHAMMER ("Hammer to the Skull"),and Killjoy from NECROPHAGIA ("Defleshed and Skinned") make horrifying appearances. Chances are that you've already got a pretty good idea of what you'll be getting into with "Feast of Flesh". These are thunderous odes to all that is blood soaked and impaled, driven by sewer chewing riffs and sickeningly fun sing-along choruses. Lee sets himself apart from many death metal vocalists with a distinctive bark that is both intelligible and earth shaking; the dude makes a crater-sized impact any time he opens his mouth to let out a demonic growl. Time is never wasted screwing around with compositional complexities; the emphasis is always on a fat groove and a gnarly riff.

The death metal bucket is filled with tales of atrocities, but it is bands like BONE GNAWER that make it so damn much fun. On "Feast of Flesh", you'll head bang, you'll growl along, and you'll let out a slew of sinister laughs all along the way, no doubt with the smell of beer on your breath. Let's all roll around in the entrails and giggle like school children.