Afterbirth ‘Four Dimensional Flesh’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Unique Leader Records/Brutal Death Metal
Formed from members of Helmet and Artificial Brain back in the early 90s’, Afterbirth released two rather important demo tapes in the development of the brutal death metal scene. Unfortunately, the band went on hiatus from there with the success of their parent bands, only reforming 18 years later. Since their reformation, the band have released their full-length studio debut 2017’s ‘The Time Traveler’s Dilemma’ and is now followed up by their sophomore album ‘Four Dimensional Flesh’.
For a band which began their career all about guts, gore and death, Afterbirth returned with a much more grown up vibe, something a little more highbrow and intelligent. With ‘Four…’, Afterbirth take a running leap from the foundations that they laid down with their previous album, with the New Yorkers expanding their sound delivering an album of pummelling brutal death metal that takes in the sounds of Internal Bleeding, Pyrexia and Disgorge, but also, as expected, there is something more here, something technical and thought-provoking that would appeal to fans of Wormhole, Artificial Brain and even Defeated Sanity as progressive elements go to toe to toe with brutalism and give it a run for its money. This blend of technicality and brutal attack plays very much into the hands Afterbirth, there are some excellent riffs here such as during ‘Spiritually Transmitted Disease’, ‘Dreaming Astral Body’ and ‘Black Hole Kaleidoscope’ which showcase these as some of Afterbirth’s best work.
Unfortunately, this album will not appeal to everybody; brutal death metal can be somewhat of an acquired taste. However, by overlooking or even worse, dismissing this album would be a travesty, ‘Four…’ is an album which is the perfect follow up to the bands debut album and because of this, it is likely to be one of the best brutal death metal albums of the year.
Rating : 87/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
