Severe Torture-Sworn Vengeance

2007
Earache



I had to play this one several times to really get a handle on it. Severe Torture are from Holland and this is their fourth album and second on Earache records. They play a fairly traditional style of death metal, but they also mix in element of thrash and very early death metal as well. They also due it in a rather seemless method which makes if flow nicely, but that's why it took a few listens for me to pick out everything that was transpiring during this album. They have an honestly aggressive approach that plows forward with oftentimes a thick wall of heaviness. Yet for the most part they avoid the trap that far too many death metal bands fall into and that's having the guitar get swallowed or the mushed by the overall sound of the band. That doesn't happen hear, the guitar stays very distinct and it stays above the sound and drives forward. They also controlled the pace as opposed to it controlling them and that's another trap I think a number of death metal bands fall prey to. However, I got the distinct impression that the better songs were towards the second half of the album. The vocals breifly deviated from the traditional garbled growl, but not much. So unfortunately the vocals are very much the same old thing with little very deviation from the style that most singers in this genre swear by. The production is overall strong as it's heavy when it has to be and sharp when needed. Also every instrument gets a fair shake in the production as nothing is lost in the overall feel of the album. There is nothing that new here, but Severe Torture are better than average musicians who have a decent knack for tones and pace changes.