Severe Torture are one of those bands who, up until a couple weeks ago, I’ve long since filed under the “heard of but haven’t listened to” category. I’ve seen their name pop up throughout the years and always intended to give them a fair shot, but alas, that never happened. That is until the Dutch death metal veterans found themselves in my hometown of Chicago as part of a stacked bill that boasted Bloodbath, Primordial, Archgoat, and Cardiac Arrest. Having just been decimated by hometown heroes Cardiac Arrest, I found myself eager to consume whatever brand of death metal Severe Torture had in store for me.
Well folks, I sit here behind my laptop, brutalized, mangled, and slightly injured, not by any man or beast, but by the sheer extremity of the aptly named Severe Torture’s music. As an avid fan of Cannibal Corpse’s earliest output (who isn’t?), I found myself taken aback by the band’s fresh utilization of Butchered at Birth era tropes (bludgeoning riffs, soul devouring growls, blinding blasts). Indeed, this was brutal death metal done ’90s style, and I was here for it. The onstage announcement of a brand new album, Torn from the Jaws of Death, left me further intrigued. If I’m gonna dive head first into the hellish abyss that is Severe Torture, why not work my way backwards?
Unlike so many metal albums today that try to fuse two or even more genres together, Torn from the Jaws of Death doesn’t beat around the bush. This is a full fledged brutal death affair, nothing more, nothing less. I’m sure some dork is about waltz his way into the comments, correcting me that this is “just” death metal due to its lack of pig squeal vocals and slams. To which I say, learn your history, and in the immortal words of J-Dawg, “Tape that mouth shut!” I dare you to put this album next to the early output of Suffocation and Cryptopsy and tell me it’s that sonically different.
From the opening onslaught of “The Death of Everything”, Severe Torture treats us to a gory death metal extravaganza, filled with ignorant knuckle-dragging riffage and breakneck rage. Many of these songs almost have a thrashing demeanor to them, tempting yours truly to coin a “brutal death/thrash metal” tag (as if we didn’t have enough senseless genre amalgamations already). Seriously, cuts like “Christ Immersion”, “Through Pain and Emptiness”, and “Those Who Wished Me Dead” sound like Cannibal Corpse trying their hand at Kreator songs. Meanwhile, cuts like “Hogtied in Rope” and the title track don’t necessarily slam, but they do groove around in a way that’s bound to get heads banging and bodies raging.
In an era where so called brutal death metal is dominated by lazy slam outbursts and senseless deathcore posturing, Severe Torture keeps it real and old school, going straight for the jugular without mercy. There are no trends or the slightest hint of civility to be found on Torn from the Jaws of Death: Just gigantic riffs and grizzly hooks that could topple an entire town in one fell swoop. I’d say I look forward to Severe Torture’s next offering of metallic violence, but I have an entire back catalog to tackle first. Oh to venture into the unknown!
7 out of 10
Label: Season of Mist
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
For fans of: Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Cryptopsy