Kam Lee has been performing death metal since the early 1980s when he was a teenager and a member of the band (Mantas) that later became Death and then left to form Massacre. After a few stops in Hateplow, Skincrawler and Denial Fiend, the veteran growler is back at it with Bone Gnawer, a death metal project that features a handful of Swedes (notably Rogga Johansson of Paganizer, Deranged, Edge of Sanity and Ribspreader fame) and buckets of blood.
Feast Of Flesh draws lyrical and visual inspiration from Italian horror filmmakers like Ruggero Deodato and Umberto Lenzi. One track is titled “Make You Die Slowly,” and seemingly based on Lenzi’s Cannibal Ferox, a gut-churning film that features animal deaths next to staged carnage. So, yeah, this album has the former singer of Massacre rhapsodizing about preparing nubile flesh for a primitive dinner plate.The thematic influences give a firm indication of the sound. If Mortician-inspired horror lyrics mixed with crunchy riffage suits your fancy then this album will taste as good as an undercooked fibia.
Feast of Flesh is straightforward death in the early 1990s Florida template. Bone Gnawer is more up-tempo than Obituary but lacks the authority of a Malevolent Creation or other elder statesmen. Ronnie Bjornstrom’s (also in Ribspreader) riffs are the strongest part of the album, and fellow horror buffs Killjoy of Necrophagia and Stevo of Impetigo offer guest vocals. But after a few listens to “Cannibal Cookout” and other retro Morrisound tracks I wasn’t inspired to play this again. If I want old school death metal I defer to the innovators unless it’s something special. Lee’s pedigree and the gory lyrics and artwork aren’t enough to sustain this album.
Perhaps a horror anthology is appropriate: this isn’t a genre-creating film like “Dawn of The Dead.” It’s more like the third or fourth installment of a slasher series. The thrills are predictable and the ending predetermined, but if you like this sort of thing you’ll be happy.
