Undeath - More Insane

Band:	Undeath
Album:	More Insane
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	October 04, 2024
A review by:	F3ynman

01. Dead From Beyond
02. More Insane
03. Brandish The Blade
04. Disputatious Malignancy
05. Sutured For War
06. Cramped Caskets (Necrology)
07. Bounty Hunter
08. Wailing Cadavers
09. Disattachment Of A Prophylactic In The Brain
10. Bones Clattering In The Cave

If you’re a strict connoisseur of extravagant delicacies, and you find plebeian tastes appalling, then you won’t find much to enjoy on this album. However, if you like to balance out your diet and also enjoy getting your fill of standard yet scrumptious meat and potatoes, then you’re likely to enjoy the meat-and-potatoes death metal that Undeath have cooked up here.

Now, I’m honestly not sure what New York band Undeath are trying to negate with their name, as their style of play is as quintessential death metal as it gets. A fast-paced thunderstorm of percussion and heavy guitar-work, fueled by purest testosterone—this is what death metal fans love about their favorite genre. And this is what Undeath have to offer, promising to go even More Insane on their third full-length album.

While the specific style presented on More Insane isn’t anything new in the grand scope of the genre’s history, it does mark a new avenue for Undeath. Previously, on their first two albums, the band displayed a swampy, doomy vibe in combination with the rumbling buzzsaw guitar sound akin to the famed Swedish death metal. Now, Undeath have chosen to redirect their efforts towards more of a classic American death metal format, adopting the attitude of in-your-face, unrelenting aggression and gory brutality. The production quality is a lot clearer, the riffs sharper. Songs like “Brandish The Blade” have such a catchy groove, both in terms of guitar and vocal work—a feature that I feel was missing from their previous albums. In this sense, More Insane is a big step up in quality for Undeath, focusing on creating engaging hooks and headbang-able rhythm that is bound to induce even more insane mosh-pits for their upcoming concerts.

It’ll be up to the personal taste of the listener whether they prefer the putrid death-doom atmosphere of Undeath’s previous installments or the firestorm of fury that is More Insane. As mentioned before, Undeath don’t invent anything new here for the death metal genre, but they have clearly honed their craft, enhancing the catchy elements in their sound to successfully scratch that Neanderthal itch for musical violence, which every metalhead craves from time to time.