TORTURE KILLER
"For
Maggots to Devour" (Candlelight USA/Karmageddon Media; 2004)
Reviewed by Christopher J. Kelter
As if the band's name and album title wasn't enough, one quick look at the artwork of Torture Killer's "For Maggots To Devour" was enough to give a pretty good indication of what I was in store for. But I was only half-right. Instead of the relentless gore-based attack that most death metal bands are prone to, Torture Killer spin their tales of gore and death in a mid-paced and dynamic fashion that caught my attention pretty quickly. And believe you me this is a meaningful statement because most death metal is mere static and noise to my ears.
And I began to wonder to myself – why is it that I instantly liked "For Maggots To Devour"? Clearly the band's mid-paced riffs and ability to seamlessly make the switch from each song's various sections was working in its favor. I also began to wonder if the band was from Finland because I long ago realized how talented the Finns are about metal – and wouldn't you know? Torture Killer are from Finland!
The band's website describes themselves as brutal death metal. But I'd say that description is doing them a disservice. The band clearly lists Six Feet Under and Obituary as influences. Certainly even a non-death metal fan like me can hear the SFU influences (hell, Six Feet Under has a song titled "Torture Killer"), but I'm not sure about the Obituary influence being so obvious in the band's finished work. But that may be due to my lack of familiarity with Obituary and something I haven't noticed yet in the band's songwriting. I hear a lot of the groove-laden style of Benediction in the band's style as well.
The disc is remarkably consistent across its nine tracks. However, "No Time To Bleed" is probably my favorite track from the CD due to its huge riff and nifty guitar solo. The vocals are somewhat one-dimensional which is typical of the death metal genre. However, the vocals tend to lean more towards Six Feet Under's deep guttural grows as opposed to most other death metal band's hoarse grunts and screaming – if you're going to appeal to me as a death metal band it's definitely to my liking that the vocalist sing like Chris Barnes.
And since I started this review talking about the artwork I might as well finish it talking about the artwork. The album's title is neatly tied in to the overall package's use of an autopsy report.
"For Maggots To Devour" was produced by Torture Killer. Supposedly "For Maggots To Devour" was recorded in 30 hours with an extremely low budget – you'd never know that from listening to it. "For Maggots To Devour" is already clearly one of the biggest surprises of my listening experiences in the first half of 2004.
Torture Killer: Liuke on vocals, Hatakka on rhythm and lead guitars, Laine on rhythm guitar, Karppinen on bass, and Latvala on drums. Apparently, some of the band members are from Finnish death metal bands like Torn, Demigod, and Adramlaech. So it appears that Torture Killer are yet another band that is following in the footsteps of Bloodbath and Chaos Breed – and that's a good thing.
For more information visit http://www.torture-killer.cjb.net/.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2004 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights
reserved.
Revised: 12 Aug 2024 14:33:59 -0400.
