VICIOUS ART

Pick up this Sick Child

Mighty Music

8.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. Tombstone Grind
02. The Paulina Paw Paintings
03. Our Family Flesh
04. Murderer
05. We're Both Into Killing Me
06. Chewing Gunpowder
07. Evicting Dead Tenants
08. Dancing MÃ¼nchausen
09. And Bent Down For Years
10. Chain Hooks Falling
11. The Topmost Violent God

The music of VICIOUS ART's "Pick up this Sick Child" sounds like the album cover looks: blood spattered, diseased, and just plain nasty. And yes, one could not have come up with a more fitting name for the act. Formed in 2003 and previously releasing the "Fire Falls and the Waiting Waters" debut full length (2004) and the "Weed the Wild" EP (2006),VICIOUS ART counts among its membership former members of GRAVE, DARK FUNERAL, and ENTOMBED. That's a heavyweight list of veterans of the brutal stuff, which is no surprise when one listens to "Pick up this Sick Child".

Combining the sickening lyrical fare and a bit of the gnarly musicality of BLOODBATH with the cracking groove of ENTOMBED, VICIOUS ART brings to the table a powerful 11-track collection of tunes that are as face melting as they are catchy. The grooves on this bitch are out of this world. Fat, crispy riffs and an absolutely pummeling rhythm section are but two of the highlights of the disc. "The Paulina Paw Paintings" is most representative of the band's ability to crush with the weight of a tank division and get the neck snapping with eminently memorable guitar lines and arrangement shifts. Songs such as "Our Family Flesh" and "We're Both into Killing Me" feature choruses that immediately imbed in the brain. Vocalist Jocke Widfeldt sports a frightening snarl, making it impossible to ignore his maniacal approach. The guitars of Tobe Sillman and Matti Mäkelä are incredibly sharp, even ear piercing. Get too close and you'll lose a limb, trust me. The tones are perfect for the style and the instrument clarity is outstanding as well.

"Pick up this Sick Child" is one of those death metal albums that can satisfy lovers of extreme sonic malevolence, old-school, Swedish-style death metal, and those that desire some tunefulness with their ferocity. VICIOUS ART have written what is sure to be their watershed release and it would be a crime for any fan to miss out on it. It's still early in the year, but "Pick up this Sick Child" will easily end up one of my favorite death metal releases of 2008, and there have been some monster DM albums released this year. It doesn't get much better. Highly, highly recommended.

Author:

Prev More Reviews Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).