I discovered Zombieslut last year when I reviewed their previous album Undead Commando. I have to say, I quite liked it and awaited their next full release.
This isn’t it.
While the band finish work on the “proper” album number three – Death Propaganda – they’ve reworked four tracks from their first release Braineater and added in two new numbers. In the interests of research I headed to bandcamp and listened to the original tracks as well as the new versions and there is a huge difference in of sound. The thing is, I’m not going to say that the re-done versions are better as the originals are so good! I think this will come down to personal preference.
The original four songs – “(Return of) The Zombie”, “Lycantrophic Funeral”, “Braineater” and “Theater of Beautiful Deaths” are much deeper and heavier sounding than their updated selves. There’s more of a sludge or grindcore tone to them compared to the crisper, thrashier sound on Massive Lethal Flesh Recovery. Even the opening growl of “The Zombie” is more of a shriek in the 2016 version, which pretty much sums up the change.
If I’m honest, for my money I’d go with the original. However for fans of the band, the new “mini-album” is still worth getting. As well as reworkings of some great songs which aren’t at all bad, you get two new ones which I assume won’t appear anywhere else.
“Lord of Eternal Pain” actually harks back in sound a little more to the old Braineater and is on the whole a very slow crusher of a track. One you can sing along to. “Victims of the Lie” starts off sounding like it will be even heavier – it even sounds like it’s been written in homage to Black Sabbath for the first thirty seconds or so – and then the chainsaws fire up and the flesh-rending pace kicks in. This is a calm followed by four and a half minutes of extreme and disgusting violence.
An interesting stopgap and one that only whets the appetite for Death Propaganda.
Massive Lethal Flesh Recovery is out now and available for €5 via bandcamp.
