Alchemy of Flesh Hits Us with a "Meteor Hammer" (Early Track Stream)
There are times when one needs their death metal to straight up punch them in the face. Alchemy of Flesh caters to that need with vicious alacrity: their upcoming sophomore album By Will Alone turns up the tempo and hones in on delivering razor-sharp riffs with a total lack of subtlety. Drums and guitar form up into a serrated hailstorm, noticeably absent of excess reverb or really anything that might soften the impact here. It hones in on the same sort of brutal simplicity that death metal strove for in the 1990s, relying on tight, gnarly rhythms and fully parseable growls. While the decades since have resulted in enormous creative leaps and interesting experiments, sometimes, as mentioned, one just needs to be hit in the head with riffs. For your daily dose of this, we're premiering "Meteor Hammer" below.
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While I've previously talked about how Alchemy of Flesh is Morbid Angel-ish, By Will Alone showcases how this connection is much more of a revered inspiration than a riff bank to plunder from. By Will Alone follows up Abominations of Desolation, thus hinting at the same alphabetical progression that the Floridian royalty hewed to, but there's not much musically to point to in terms of simple imitation. This is an evil, multi-headed beast, and it owes most of its deadliness to sole member Tim Rowland's ever-shifting approach to crafting classically malicious death metal.
Rowland comments:
The lyrics in "Meteor Hammer" correlate directly to the cover art. It's based in Eastern mythology through the lens of martial battles with an invasion of deceptive men who are serpentine in spirit, coming in to destroy and defile a sacred space. It's all metaphorical to me, but I'll leave the interpretation up to the listeners.
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By Will Alone releases November 17th via Redefining Darkness Records.
