Mesetiah describe themselves as death metal `influenced by the 90’s metal scene’. You might think to yourself, well that sounds wonderfully nostalgic, I love Deicide/Dismember/Morbid Angel/Grave insert old death metal band name here. If this is what you are thinking – don’t. It seems that Mesetiah think of the 90’s metal scene as Pantera and Machine Head, and later Sepultura.
It is certainly true that they have a lot of groove and stomp, akin to those mid 90’s bands that were so popular in the day. There are even some impressive headbanging moments, but all too often I find myself thinking of buffoons in woolly hats, with jeans baggy enough to fit several people inside, underpants on full display.
That said, the Finns do display some moments of pure death metal grimness. Clearly they do have a knack for it, and there are some deliciously dark moments scattered throughout the album, which remind me of some of the Scandinavian juggernauts of death metal, in particular Grave and Unleashed. `Eaten By The Sun’ is a particularly dark and grim track, with some great, crushing old-fashioned death metal, and even a tremolo-whipped guitar solo. All too often they return to repetitive, downtuned, stompy chugging, however.
I like a good headbang as much as the next metal fan, but I remain unconvinced by death metal that adopts an urban, posturing swagger. It’s just too stripped down, and more importantly, not dark and grim enough to be effective death metal in my opinion. It is a shame, as this band clearly has the potential to achieve greater, darker things, yet seems content to chug along on the E string in a rather unambitious fashion. It seems particularly criminal when there are moments of real death metal pounding scattered throughout the album; when push comes to shove, these boys can really write a killer riff. They can also play very well too – very, very occasionally some really nice guitar playing shines through, including some great solos.
Maybe I am too stuck in my ways (being an old geezer), but I can’t really imagine who this album would appeal to. Maybe someone who fondly remembers the whole mid-90’s woolly hat wearing scene, where groove and stomp were more important than heaviness, atmosphere or creativity, and also likes death metal... The closest reference point I think is Six Feet Under, yet that band managed to create something heavy, grooving and dark and atmospheric.
There are moments of real promise throughout the 11 tracks, but ultimately it sounds like Pantera and Grave arguing over studio time.
http://www.mesetiah.com
Jon Butlin
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