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Bone Gnawer: Feast Of Flesh

Bone Gnawer: Feast Of Flesh

Horror/Death Metal
Rating: 2.5/5.0

Pulverizer Records
www.pulverizer.net
www.myspace.com/bonegnawerband
Review: Craig Hartranft,  06.28.2009

Although strict death metal is not the standard fare within the electronic pages of Dangerdog Music Reviews, we'll make a brief exception for the debut from Bone Gnawer. And this is only because Feast Of Flesh, excusing the generic death vocals and horrid content, is some of the best old school thrash/death metal that I've heard in sometime. Bone Gnawer features the well-known death metal master Kam Lee (Massacre, Denial Fiend, ex-Mantas/Death), Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Demiurg, Ribspreader), Morgan Lie (Naglfar), and Ronnie Bjornstrom (Ribspreader, Hate Ammo). Feast Of Flesh could be best described as blend between classic Florida death metal and early Swedish melodic death metal.

Musically, Feast Of Flesh is flush with uncompromised and speedy, but not brutally punishing, thrash riffage blending with a galloping rhythm section and lightening fret work to create some better than average nasty, yet melodic, American death metal. Musically, Hatchface, Feast Of Flesh or The Lucky Ones Die First are far above what passes for most death metal today.

Lyrically, the thematic content of Feast Of Flesh is a putrid and vulgar glorification of gore, violence, death, and misogyny; All of which are hallmarks of death metal and unsuited for anybody's mind or ears. Feast Of Flesh is quite different from the B-movie zombie theme of Kam Lee and Denial Fiend's They Rise, a genuinely interesting work. Although, I'm sure Bone Gnawer would be happy with the aforementioned description, this is a perfect example of good music and a bad message resulting in bad art; if it can be called art at all. (This is something Cannibal Corpse claimed early on as justification for their music for which they are, intellectually, severely mistaken.)

Even if Bone Gnawer invokes the inspiration of horror B-movies, it still does not justify the blessing of sadism and torture. But, I suppose we're to accept this because, historically, this has been a subject matter of fair game for death metal. I don't think so. (Which begs the question of what puts the 'death' into death metal? The lyrical content, musical style or simply the growling vocals?) All it truly reveals is the pathologically unstable (and near criminally insane) mind and character of the principals involved, and essentially validates the ancient proverb, 'Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.'

Kam Lee's latest venture, Bone Gnawer, and their debut Feast Of Flesh is, musically, a brilliant and sound work of thrash/death metal and, lyrically, a horrid and worthless disc which glorifies the worst of human nature: gore, violence, sadism and death. In other words, Feast Of Flesh is the best and worst of death metal.

In Short

Kam Lee's latest venture, Bone Gnawer, and their debut Feast Of Flesh is, musically, a brilliant and sound work of thrash/death metal and, lyrically, a horrid and worthless disc which glorifies the worst of human nature: gore, violence, sadism and death. In other words, Feast Of Flesh is the best and worst of death metal.

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