What’s that? You needed a dose of crusty death metal to start your Monday morning? You’ll get exactly that in the form of Beyond Death, the second album from Finnish quartet Church of the Dead. Coming two years and a covers EP after their debut album, Beyond Death scratches the itch for filthy, punk-influenced death metal.
Checking in at nine songs, one of them a cover of Mayhem’s “Chainsaw Gutsfuck,” Beyond Death fits in the “all killer, no filler” designation. Because they wear their non-metal influences on their sleeve, Church of the Dead are able to keep things moving and feeling fresh despite the songs’ solid runtimes. As previously mentioned, placing “Chainsaw Gutsfuck” in the center of the album was a good choice; Church of the Dead’s take on the song matches their style but gives the listener something familiar—and shorter—to latch on to.
“Beyond Death is pure, raw and honest,” Church of the Dead relay to Decibel. “As an album, it’s a passage to a darker expression on our way towards the ravishing grimness. It’s a harsh and unpolished piece of heavy music in the vein that we love with different kind of feels and themes from the unholy trinity of black, death and crust.”
Beyond Death hits the streets on May 26 via Redefining Darkness, but you can listen now.
