GRUESOME

Since 2014, GRUESOME have been engaged in a noble endeavor. Proudly dedicated to paying tribute to the early works of Chuck Schuldiner's DEATH, this meeting of old-school minds (members of EXHUMED and POSSESSED included),was always about saluting a genius, rather than another lazy delve into old-school tropes. Part of Schuldiner's magic was that his music was permanently several steps ahead of the game, and while early bangers like "Zombie Ritual" and "Pull The Plug" sound primitive compared to DEATH's later works, their prescient brilliance remains untouchable. GRUESOME understood the brief and set about it with militant zeal. Both debut album "Savage Land" (2015) and follow-up "Twisted Prayers"(2018) knew exactly where the fine line between tribute and pastiche was lurking, and the quality of this veteran formation's songwriting was more than apparent from the start: a fitting tribute to Schuldiner in itself.

And so to album number three, and the explicit progression of GRUESOME's original idea. The first two albums were straight-ahead death metal records, in thrall to DEATH albums "Scream Bloody Gore", "Leprosy" and "Spiritual Healing". On "Silent Echoes", these avowed diehards pay direct tribute to "Human", which by any sane metric is one of Chuck Schuldiner's greatest records, and an album that old-school death metal dudes have carved into their souls. GRUESOME remain undaunted about the challenge here, despite having to come up with material that can compete with the original, which was performed by Chuck, Sean Reinert and Paul Masvidal of CYNIC and legendary bassist Steve Di Giorgio. No pressure, then. Fortunately, there are no slouches in GRUESOME. From frontman Matt Harvey's scabrous, pitch-perfect bark to drummer Gus Rios' exact approximation of Reinert's dizzying skills, everything about "Silent Echoes" is exactly as promised.

These are all great songs, too. "Human" was a masterful display of technicality and complexity, but Schuldiner never failed to write memorable songs. Everything here, from the opening "Condemned Identity" to the closing "Reason Denied" has the same incisive charisma that made the likes of "Suicide Machine" and "Lack Of Comprehension" so authoritative in 1991. There are also countless moments that exude sheer delight, as GRUESOME get stuck into knotty instrumental sections and atmospheric detours through progressive territory. But "Silent Echoes" is still an absolutely ripping death metal record at heart. Songs like "Frailty" and "Shards" get the balance between savagery and sophistication exactly right, with a generous helping of venomous riffing straight from the old-school vaults.

There is something immensely pleasing about GRUESOME's attention to detail. One of the highlights of DEATH's fourth album was "Cosmic Sea": an intricate instrumental tour-de-force that must surely have single-handedly spawned a subgenre or two, 34 years ago. On "Silent Echoes", "Voice within the Void (Astral Oceans)" fulfils the same role. Aside from being a dazzling ensemble performance, its prog-friendly twists and turns feels almost as bold and exploratory as "Cosmic Sea" was for DEATH. As much as this whole enterprise has nostalgia in its veins, GRUESOME's approach often adheres more to the DEATH legend's progressive instincts than it does to any persistent need to reheat the old days. This is top-tier death metal, just as Chuck intended.