Here’s another joint review! Fancy that! We seem to like doing them here at The Metal Wanderlust, and it is a good way of stopping people from stabbing each other over albums, so we are just gonna keep on rolling with it. Nobody likes to be stabbed. This time the Progressive Cave Ogier and The Great Twatwaffle, I mean Mackintosh, take on the latest offering from Spain’s Come Back from the Dead! Read on and (hopefully) enjoy!
Progressive Cave Ogier.
Graveyard may be the leading name in Spanish Extreme Metal right now, but behind them there are few worthy contenders. Black metallers Sacrificio being one of them, but in the Death Metal format the definite runner up would have to be Come Back from the Dead.
The band rose to international awareness with their previous release, EP called “Caro Data Vermibus” in 2017. It displayed a talented band, both in levels of song writing and arrangment, taking Death Metal back to the direction of the good ole Death ‘n Roll of the 1990’s instead of just relying on sheer brutality alone. Remember the Death ‘Roll thing, folks? Xysma, Pungent Stench, Disgrace and of course Entombed? Chugging riffs, wah wah leads and tons of moshing? After being AWOL for quite a while, the sudden return of the particular musical direction in form of “Caro Data Vermibus” was greeted with joy, at least here in the Prog Cave.
So after a couple of years in the making, Come Back from the Dead are ready to launch their new album, “The Rise of the Blind Ones”. Being more than curious after a personal favourite EP, it is more than a pleasure to announce that one is not to be disappointed with the full record either. Half an hour of chugging Old School Death Metal, with lots of Punky horror feel to it, the “The Rise of the Blind Ones”seems to be cashing in the momentum they set in motion with the EP some years back with considerable ease.
If “Caro Data Vermibus” was very Entombedish a release,”The Rise of the Blind Ones” re-adjusts their aim a few nods towards the grave robbing mania of Autopsy instead. This is definitely not a bad thing at all. From the opening track “Outcast of the Light” to super catchy “Restless in Purulence”, and from there to more eerie and definitely very headbangable tandem of “Jugular I” & “Jugular II” the album comes in swinging heavy blows throughout, aimed directly to musical foreheads all over the Death Metal community. “Nebulaes of Malevolent Shining” introduces a Doomier approach and underlines the Autopsy vibe on the record even further. Still the absolute highlights for me are the maniacal Old School dementia of “Lick My Hands Wild Beasts” and the somewhat British OSDM approach of “Martyr of a Gruesome Demise”. In their 30 minutes of marvellous riff-based heaviness, Come Back from the Dead seem to be delivering their money’s worth of greatness. There are simply no bad tunes on this one. No fillers, just killers as the phrase goes.
So the outcome for the review is pretty straightforward this time: If you are into Old School Death Metal, you will listen to Come Back from the Dead. Simple as that. They may not come across as the most original of bands, as they are not afraid to wear their influences proudly on their sleeves, but that also makes this record quite easy to digest and a definite must for all fans of Autopsy, Entombed and Bolt Thrower for example. This is not the primitive, lo-fi Caveman Death we get a lot these days, but a carefully written collection of song oriented Metal, and as it is armed with riffs that have as much groove as they have heaviness in them, the record stands out from the masses like a beacon. A special mention goes out to the soundscape of the album that is as organic as a dead body in a corn field, but still clear, audible and well mixed. A mix like this only underlines the power of the riffs presented.
So… “The Rise of the Blind Ones” is Old School Death Metal done right, and one of the very highlights of the genre in 2019 without a doubt. A record looking into past, present and future at the same time. A lot like a respectable Death Metal war vest sporting all the important patches of Groovy, Punky Death Metal on it, but avoiding the stereotypical presentation and sporting a “Macabre Eternal” backpatch instead of the somewhat boring “Left Hand Path” one.
Rating – 4.5/5
The Great Mackintosh.
I love it when someone else goes first, that way they can cover all the dull bits and then I just get to ramble on in my own ridiculous way. Hats off to the PCO for nailing it above, and doing a lot of the leg work! Back somewhere in the mists of time (well, 2017 to be precise, but it seems so long ago ha-ha) I had the pleasure of reviewing “Caro Data Vermibus” for an Australian site, and this is a little snippet of the crap that spewed forth from my mouth, and fingers about it.
“Before us we have Spain’s very own Come Back From The Dead. I actually didn’t know they had died but anyway now they are back, from the dead as it where. The question remains (remains, ha-ha dead jokes are fun) as to whether or not they brought back enough mold and dirt and horrible stories with them.
Never fear Old Skool fans as you may rejoice! Death Metal fans also may rejoice! Heck we should all fucking rejoice in this short but tasty little snippet of the grave that CBFTD have kindly decided to share with us living types.”
I also gave it an 85/100, which was a quite reasonable score for a very fucking great EP, and now we have their new full length before us, of which you already aware because the PCO has made you so. In case you haven’t been paying attention, it is called “The Rise of the Blind Ones”, and you really should improve your focus if you hadn’t seen that and want to get anywhere in life, unless of course you ARE blind, and then you can’t see this at all and I forgive you. One thing is for sure, even if you can’t see this one, you most fucking certainly will be able to feel it’s mighty rumble.
Yep, Death n’ Roll for sure, and that is a fine thing indeed. Throw in that Punk attitude, and you have one album right here that chugs along at a fantastic pace, and will get them toes a tapping and that body moving quicker than if you had just sat on a very large pissed off Echidna (or Spiny Anteater if you will). Sure we can draw parallels to certain bands like Entombed and Autopsy, and I don’t have any problem with that at all. I have no issue with saying that “Wolverine Blues” is still played to death in my house, and in many ways a lot of the delivery on this album is quite reminiscent, and that makes me a very happy man. Other references can be brought in, but why the fuck not just enjoy this for what it is, and that is one helluva great release.
“Rise of the Scavengers” is just a rollocking rollercoaster of a ride, with the groove shoved right up your jacksie, all about tone and attitude, and just plain good old fashioned fun. “Gravediggers From Inferno” adds a nice sinister side to things, and can be likened to riding down the road on your favourite large beast of burden, whom just so happens to be very cranky, probably because you are sitting on him (or her, or whatever). Move onto “Horror Bathory” for some flat out pummelling, and so on and so forth. Pick a tune, any tune, and try to hide that big fat shit eating grin that has just decided to spread across your Metal as fuck face. Old School without a doubt, and delivered with such aplomb that you would think that this is their fifteenth release, not their fourth. Some very old heads on some younger bodies right here people.
There is an old saying about the rain in Spain falling, apparently or so I’ve heard, on the plain. This is also, apparently, a crock of shit. It has been said that it falls elsewhere, mainly, and the Spanish translation is “La lluvia en Sevilla es una maravilla”, which actually means “The rain in Seville is wonderful”. So the lesson here kiddies is that you should never trust what you hear, but I have been reliably told that there is a wonderful barber in Seville. Bugs Bunny never lies.
Nothing plain at all about these guys though, this is just wonderful stuff, and yes that means that you should go and order this one right now, and thank the gods at Transcending Obscurity Records for bringing us yet more great music! Go on, do it.
Rating – 4.5/5
Fark yes!
The Metal Wanderlust 