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The Cleansing

Feeding The Inevitable

Written by: MST on 10/09/2011 14:26:13

Although Denmark doesn't have a lot of internationally recognised death metal acts, for a while now we have had quite a few death metal bands in our small domestic scene. We have here one of those bands, The Cleansing, andespite "Feeding The Inevitable" only being The Cleansing's second release, the band's members are veterans in the scene. Singer Toke Eld and guitarists Jeppe Hasseriis and Andreas Lynge were part of the danish death metal band Usipian until they split up in 2007; bassist Martin Rosendahl is the lead singer and bassist of the danish brutal death metal band Corpus Mortale; and drummer Morten Løwe has played, and still plays in a ridiculous number of danish bands including The Arcane Order, Submission and Mercenary.

The Cleansing play old-school brutal death metal with everything that is associated with the genre: regular and guttural growls, drums that go from blasting to groovy mid-tempo, and brutal yet somewhat melodic guitar riffs. Those riffs more or less control the soundscape, and as such this is not the kind of death metal that is dominated by vocals as a lot of modern death metal is. But when the vocals are there, they're brutal and very much fitting the music. Those who've listened to 2009's "Poisoned Legacy" should note that the vocals on "Feeding The Inevitable" have changed a little, and for the better. On "Poisoned Legacy" the vocals sounded like they were layered twice and effects had been added - and it was annoying as hell. But on "Feeding The Inevitable" the vocals sound pure, a little deeper and just generally better. The musicianship deserves no critique, because the veterans clearly know what they are doing. But like the album's predecessor, "Feeding The Inevitable" does little to distance the band from the genre's peers. There are some good tracks on the album though, like the excellent album closer "Crossroads" on which a guest vocalist can be heard.

The Cleansing play death metal for the sake of playing death metal, and that results in an album that will be adored by old schoool death metal fans and more or less ignored by those who want more than a homage to the old veterans. "Feeding The Inevitable" is an enjoyable album and an improvement to is predecessor, but to obtain broader success than what The Cleansing are enjoying in Denmark at the present moment it just needs that little extra something. That little extra something can be many things, and I hope that The Cleansing bring it on their next release.

Download: Third Eye Staring, Two Days, Crossroads
For The Fans Of: Iniquity, Usipian
Listen: MySpace

Release 23.05.2011
Target/Deep Sand