Fleshless - Doomed

Fleshless are no newcomers. The Czechs have been around since 1993 and they have gained a respected name in the underground. Their early works were a mixture of death metal and grindcore but over the last years they slightly changed their style to explore more melodic areas of brutal death metal. Don't get me wrong. This is not melo-death, but brutal death metal with some melodic passages.

Vladimir Prokos (owner of Nice to Eat You Records) spits forth once again really well his guttural vocal attack on themes like death, torture and suffering. The riffs keep the brutality and groove at high standards.

The opening track '4th Dominion' is my favorite song of the album with an amazing a-la Carcass 'Heartwork' melody underlining the sheer brutality just to end with another fragile melody from the lead guitar. 'A Bleeding Sculpture' opening riff is memorable. Fleshless add in melodic passages just before the downbeat groovy part. 'Ninety-Seven Pieces' sets off with an almost crust riff to progress to another lesson in violence. The guitar techniques used give color to songs like 'Distorted Eulogy'.

In songs like 'Castrate' the riffage is cataclysmic with interesting palm muting tempo changes. Fleshless influences vary in style from Mortician to Pyrexia and from Malevolent Creation to Abominable Putridity covering a wide range of the brutal death spectrum.

The album is around 30 minutes long, which is absolutely fine for their style and prevents it from tiring the listener. I think it will be very difficult for a death metal or brutal death metal fan to pass by "Doomed" untouched. Fleshless achieved an excellent result!

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1. Intro
2. 4th Dominion
3. Human Debris
4. A Bleeding Sculpture
5. Expelled
6. Noise 5
7. Ninety-Seven Pieces
8. Distorted Eulogy
9. Castrate
10. Parasites Fodder
11. Outro