Gore Force V - At Full Force

A lot of ignorant people will claim that Metal is just nonsense and noise; lots of bands have gone to great lengths to disprove these insults all the way from the creative genius of Devin Townsend to the earthshaking popularity of blasphemous groups like Mayhem. But some bands take the criticism and throw it back in the naysayer’s face by creating music that truly is nonsense, but a fun kind. Belgium’s Gore Force V (perhaps a play on Family Force Five) are one of those bands. They create a mix of Death Metal and Slam, taking two genres that has gotten a lot of flak for brutality and also hilarity, from the censored “Tomb of the Mutilated” to a genre literally called Toilet Slam, and make it their own, a quick little album full of slams, grunts, squeals, somehow catchy riffs, and just barely 20 minutes entitled “At Full Force.”

This five piece aren’t looking to get an award for the most innovative Death Metal album of the year, but one can tell that even though their music isn’t exactly eye opening, it certainly deserves a lot of laughs and winks, from the squeals of vocalist Senne on ‘Jean Baptiste…’ to truly embrace the Slam elements to the samples like Family Guy on ‘The Doryhole,’ one can tell this is like a mix between Dethklok which are known for somewhat hilarious tracks and yet fantastic musicianship and a more serious group like (older) Aborted. Most of the tracks are led by opening samples of some sort and then delve into rather chuggy, catchy riffs led by Wesley Heyndrickx and Buysse Jeroen. The thick bass rumbles right along for plenty of groove- especially on ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Rapist’- from Dominique Michiels and of course the pounding of the drums from Jan de Maeyer brings forth that crushing Cannibal Corpse sound. Altogether, it sounds brutal and yet amusing. Fans who like Death Metal with substance and meaning won’t really find that here unfortunately, but the meaty riffs and variety of snarls, growls, shrieks, and squeals will certainly be entertained and want to stick with the music. Even if it is just to hear the ending Monty Python sample.

Gore Force V tend to keep the music at a steady pace and stick with the same formula. “At Full Force” does make clever use of the samples to go along with whatever the song is about, from the informative ‘Superior Mating Rituals’ to the laughable ‘Panda Porking Power Ranger.’ As far as the music goes there aren’t really any atmospheric slower tracks or fast mosh pit frenzy ones; they tend to stick at the more mid paced Death Rock induced style much like a band such as Torture Killer would do. As a result, the album does go by a bit fast with nothing really standing out, but again, the album is meant to be taken in fun, not seriousness. If one is looking for crushing technicality, go listen to Cryptopsy. If one wants sheer brutality to shred the ears, check out Cerebral Bore. If one wants to get a good chuckle out before head banging, check out Gore Force V.

3 / 5 STARS