Masachist is the latest in a recent glut of ‘Supergroups’ to flood the market, this time featuring some of Poland’s finest practitioners of Death Metal. The band has been the long term brainchild of guitarist Thrufel, of Azarath and the quite excellent Yattering, and also drummer Daray Brzozowski of Vader. Despite forming in 2005, their only previous output was a two track promo way back in the mists of time in 2007, but now with other commitments aside, they have finally come together to unveil their first full length release.
With Polish Death Metal, you generally know what you are going to get, and this is no different, especially considering the artists involved. It’s straight ahead brutal death, predominantly in the old Floridian style; early Cannibal Corpse immediately comes to mind to offer a point of reference. Opening track ‘Unveil the Grave’ is a very promising start, with Daray’s inhuman drumming providing a stark contrast to the simplified riffing of Thrufel. Pig provides the throat here, otherwise known as Decapitated’s Sauron. I’ve never really rated Sauron’s bland, generic monotone growl, and once again it detracts from the overall quality here. Because it is so unwavering and predictable, it’s very easy to just zone out of listening, as the whole album blends into one track. ‘Inborn Obedience’, despite some exceptional technical playing, is largely throwaway, clocking in at little over 100 seconds, it’s over just as you are really beginning to appreciate it, and that is the trouble with much of Death March Fury. The full album totals just under 26 minutes, and that’s a bit thrifty for 4 years worth of work on a full price release. ‘Womb’ is one of the stronger tracks, managing as it does to wander through a number of different styles; it manages to extract complexity from its inherent minimalism.
‘Open The Wounds’ is one of those tracks you will either love or hate, and that will depend strongly on your opinion of Sauron/Pig. Despite a guest appearance from the excellent Ross Dolan of Immolation, I can only liken it to being repeatedly beaten over the head with a rubber mallet for 3 minutes. I’ve tried it, and believe me, it’s not as pleasant as it sounds. ‘Noxious’ is another short, but quite sweet blast, followed up by the excellent ‘Malicious Cleansing’. This is clearly what Thrufel and Daray had in mind when Masachist were put together. Daray’s relentless double kick assault allied with a thundering bassline from Heinrich, some splendid technical guitar noodling and the most convincing vocal performance I’ve heard yet from Pig, make this one a definite winner. ‘Appearance of the Worm’ is a longer, slower and oppressively heavy track, and one that requires repeated listens to fully appreciate the various understated nuances. ‘Crush Them’ has its roots lodged in early Deicide and once again very frustratingly ends just as it is gathering momentum. The title track brings things to its conclusion, a 2 minute entirely forgettable, disappointing instrumental. For completeness sake, the special edition of Death March Fury also contains the tracks from the 2007 promo, being early workings of ‘Open the Wounds’ and ‘Malicious Cleansing’.
This is a largely hit and miss affair, mostly I would presume due to this being a largely secondary project for everyone in the band, and also due to some very bland vocals. It’s certainly not a complete loss though, there is a lot here to suggest that if Masachist were to take things seriously, and by seriously I mean a permanent project rather than just a one album wonder, then there could be an excellent album down the line. Death March Fury is definitely not that album, but it’s not a bad start. Give it a chance and it grows on you, like fungus, but there isn’t anything here yet to topple Vader or Behemoth from their positions at the top of the Polish Death Mountain.
http://www.myspace.com/masachistband
