Brutal＜限定盤/Geen Splatter Vinyl＞

Chaosbreed is a supergroup composed of members of Amorphis, Moonsorrow, Gandalf, and, most notably, ex-Sentenced and the Black League vocalist Taneli Jarva. Despite the bandmembers' Finnish origins, Brutal is a love letter to Swedish death metal pioneers Entombed (see also: Bloodbath), going so far as to "borrow" the band's chainsaw guitar sound, L.G. Petrov's constipated vocal style, and their mid- to fast-paced groovy death rock. Obviously, Chaosbreed's intent isn't to reinvent the wheel; in fact, Brutal seems to be something of a lark, a for-the-hell-of-it keg-of-beer weekend project spinning out of control and taking the piss out of death metal cliches -- just listen to "Casket Ride," "Demon Skunk," and "Shitgrinder." The album certainly sounds like it was fun for the musicians to write and record, and some of that translates to the listener via loose grooves and Jarva's humorously affected (drunken?) sputtering. Sure, Chaosbreed has essentially penned a tribute to Entombed's holy trinity (the Left Hand Path, Clandestine, and Wolverine Blues records), and the originals will always be the cocktail of choice for death metal punters of taste -- but at least these Finns are spreading their appreciation with (hopefully) tongues in cheeks. ~ John Serba