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Worm Gear
Magazine
The Christian metal scene continues its long assent out of a murky past
littered with substandard bands more concerned with conveying a message than
actually creating music to get excited over. Along with other such crushing acts
as Training For Utopia, Embodiment and a select group of others, Northern
Michigan's Feast Eternal have reformed, reorganized and emerged with a
passionate album that'll open some eyes on both sides of the spiritual topic of
discussion. "Prisons of Flesh" is the perfect marriage between melodically
charged death metal and primordial aggression. The twin guitar attack weaves a
tightly knit web of harmony (as on "Dead Eyes" and Ashes To Dust") which soars
with addictive hooks, only to cascade into bruising "A" chord crunching and a
meaty double bass plod. >From the mood inducing aura of the aforementioned
tracks, Feast mixes up the delivery to keep this CD moving along with aggravated
blast beats as on "Of Service and Suffering" and dissonant riff structures that
empower the track "Into Eternity" with a grating, tense feeling. Along with
interesting drum textures that gives this material more depth, the monstrously
caustic vocals of T.J. Humlinski add even more tortured variety and ungodly
(yuk, yuk) mayhem to this bands mix. For the most part concentrating on moist,
guttural lows, T.J. effortlessly moves his delivery up into higher registered
screams/phrases where needed within a song, even sounding a bit like the singer
from Blood Feast during the chorus of "Forgetting God". From rather average
brutal death beginnings as was experienced on the bands 3 song demo several
years back, Feast Eternal have expanded on their influences, incorporated a
slight European characteristic (imagine a unique cross between Bolt Thrower and
In Flames) in with their massively catchy style, and for it, they stand to
evolve into a powerhouse of emotive American death. "Prisons of Flesh" is
varied, mighty and solid all the way around… what more could you ask for?
Marty / Worm Gear Magazine |
