Old School Death Metal continues to age, but enough time has passed for anyone who’s been paying attention to predict confidently that its appeal is ageless. It’s not merely that a lot of the old death metal records from the late ’80s and early ’90s still light a fire under listeners, it’s that the influence of the music continues to fuel vibrant new bands around the globe.
A prime case in point is the Milanese trio Reaping Flesh. They’re unabashed in proclaiming both their inspiration by bands like Autopsy, Obituary, Morbid Angel, Death, and Massacre, and the object of their mission: to play no-frills, straight-forward Death Metal in line with the heritage of those groups.
Reaping Flesh have already been delivering their music on stage, and now they’ll be able to share it everywhere because their debut EP Abyss of Existence is now set for release by Redefining Darkness Records on June 16th. One gruesome and grisly episode of sonic slaughtering from the EP (“Self Incarnation“) is already out in the world, and today we’re helping launch the second one — “Elements of Life” — presented through a music video
Reaping Flesh bassist/vocalist Andrea has shared the following words about the harrowing subject of this new song:
“‘Elements of Life‘ is about the collapse of Earth, this awareness comes first as a nightmare and then it becomes reality. We lose every focus and reference. The only assurance that we have is impending human extinction.”
With such grim and cataclysmic subject matter, portrayed by a band named Reaping Flesh, you should already be expecting a ravaging and terrorizing musical attack, and that is indeed what you’ll get.
The song mainly drives at vicious speed. The drums administer a powerful and ruthless beating. The bass hits just as hard and fast. The vocals are monstrous and enraged. But it’s the maniacal tremolo-picked swarming of the riffs that channels the madness and mayhem of this savagery. The gruesome whine and whir of the guitar is both dismal and demented, but also sounds downright dangerous to one’s health — as diseased in its tone as it is malignant and eviscerating.
The feeding-frenzy fretwork never really becomes fully satiated, but the band do switch the rhythm into a lurching stomp, making their way through a trough of skulls in advance of an eerie guitar solo that magnifies the supernatural horror of the experience. From there the trio continue to switch things up, alternately convulsing and crawling, creating chaos and causing a listener’s flesh to crawl.
The video by Stefania Carbonara gives us a chance to see Reaping Flesh in action, but also splices in blood spray and some other disgusting visuals, and what else did you expect for a song like this?
Down below you’ll also find a stream of “Self Incarnation“, that previously released single we mentioned. It’s just as likely to kick your adrenaline into high gear, to beat the living hell out of you, and to conjure mental images of horrifying violence, cruel oppression, and sickening rot. (There’s an even more berserk guitar solo in that one too.)
REAPING FLESH is:
Andrea – Bass / Vocals
Marco – Guitars
Federico – Drums
Abyss of Existence was mixed and mastered in Busto Arsizio at Decibel Studio by Carlo Meroni. Redefining Darkness will release it on CD, cassette tape, and digital formats, and recommends it for fans of Massacre, Death, and Autopsy.
PRE-ORDER:
https://reapingfleshdm.bandcamp.com/album/abyss-of-existence-2
FOLLOW REAPING FLESH:
https://www.instagram.com/reapingfleshdm/
https://www.facebook.com/reapingfleshdm
https://reapingfleshdm.bandcamp.com/