TECHNICAL MUSIC REVIEW
One of death metal’s most consistent and under appreciated bands Beheaded released another great album recently “Only Death Can Save You”. These guys are one of my personal favorite bands and trumped the 2017 banger “Beast Incarnate” (I thoroughly enjoyed that record!). What I dig a lot about the band outside of the music is their determination to move on and never give up. They’ve gone through a plethora of band members, a few labels, and aren’t spring chickens anymore. I can guarantee you a good amount of our followers weren’t born or were super young when they STARTED in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Lots of bands would have given up but these guys strap on their work boots and get to work. They haven’t thrown in the towel and disbanded, but in fact kept the train rolling. The bruisers from Malta have returned with this nasty opus that will certainly go down as one of their best albums of recent memory.
The drumming is superb on these tracks. One of the things that stuck out to me wasn’t just the drumming when I got into them but was their groove. Some extreme bands tend to find their formula or style and stick to it. Beheaded is there, to a very slight extent and do what they can do and don’t overdo it. But unlike a good amount of death metal bands they switch speeds more often. Some are slower and some are actually fairly fast. They’re one of the bands that doesn’t wow you with their complex arrangements or talent but their CONSISTENCY. They haven’t released a terrible album, considering their lineup changes with lots of members coming and going like a revolving door. Yeah they’re talented and I love their music, but again that determination and will is a huge factor to this band still being around.
The bulldozing guitar riffs are paired perfectly with the rhythm section of Beheaded. The mid range vocals are a perfect pair with their music. It’s a good change in pace in a genre where gutturals are generally lower for the most part. If you’re unfamiliar with them you need to change that now. “Only Death Can Save You” is another brick in the house of death metal that Beheaded has been building for a few decades now. Starting out with their first few albums would be a good start, and then going to the last few albums including this release. Don’t forget about this great album, as it’ll probably be another underdog album from a great band in the genre.
Originally published on Technical Music Review. Republished with permission.
