India’s Fleshcrave crash on the death metal radar with a debut EP steeped in unvarnished death metal ferocity.

FLESHCRAVE

This five piece death metal band from Kolkata, India is new to me. They add to the growing list of quality bands I’ve heard from the country. Formed in 2020, the band released three singles between 2021 and 2023 as all the band members are involved in other outfits varying from thrash to deathcore. This project is purely death metal with a no frills approach.

This debut EP contains the band’s first two singles, Black Swordsman and Band Of The Hawk. Both versions have been modified slightly. However, it is surprising and puzzling as to the lack of inclusion of the excellent Spawn Of Cruelty single released in 2023. That being said the five tracks on offer more than suffice in delivering Fleshcrave’s bulldozing death metal statement.

BLACK SWORDSMAN

Black Swordsman is the opener and has been reworked. This version possesses a marginally lower treble tone. The track includes a darksynth intro to craft tension before the track floods in with deathrash riffing. Ploughing in with a brutalising precision the song harks back to the early 90s using copious riff breaks and periodic cymbal smash insertions typified by thrash. The way the band blends those thrashing credentials is neatly done as fans of the early 90s Floridian death metal scene, e.g. Malevolent Creation, have plenty to enjoy.  Band Of The Hawk has been shortened for the EP, its intro section being removed to allow the song to charge in with thrusting double kick blasting force.

BEHELIT

Fleshcrave aren’t offering anything beyond old school death metal; they don’t need to. The unerring savagery and memorable riffs speak for themselves. Behelit is a fine track, its accelerating prowess fortified by the cataclysmic drum work that underpins this EP’s thunderous remit. Every track is rife with riff changes, that fans of Death will appreciate, using the lead breaks to flow cohesively from one section to another. Eclipse detonates with double kick blast unleashing a violent thrashing firestorm that is massively catchy yet inherently brutal.

Closing the EP is instrumental Struggler, changing to a slower pace as the Death influence rears up again through the use of hook sound bites. Tempo fluctuations drench the continually evolving riff work that intensifies into Deicide territory right before the bass riff insertion and a complete transformation, where screaming leads drift around towards the songs finale.

Ultimately this debut EP stands as a riff stacked statement of intent that they can wield death metal brutality as accomplished as any band and with such conviction that it requires serious attention.

Fleshcrave: Bandcamp

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