If Yogi Bear was injected with steroids and instead of stealing picnic baskets he decided to go on a bloodthirsty rampage, I would expect Bear Mace’s new music to be playing in the background. This Chicago based death metal band is one group of ravenous old school death metal fanatics, and their sophomore release, “Charred Field of Slaughter,” is definitely not something you would hear being played at an outdoor hippie fest. This band's music would probably possess the creatures of the forests to attack the hippies and eat them all alive!
Bear Mace is not trying to reinvent the wheel by any means with this new album, however, they sure do understand what is needed to make a slamming old school death metal release. I like the bombastic riff compositions that remind me of bands like Bolt Thrower, Benediction and Obituary. Also, the vocals on this album are executed extremely well giving the album a horrific old school sound.
Out of the eight tracks off of the album, listeners will be pleased to hear gritty compositions with song titles so brutal your neighbors might move away and then you’ll be left to blast your music as loud as you want. In all honesty, any album that starts off with a song called, “Destroyed by Bears,” is guaranteed to be one brutal listening experience. These dudes do not mess around and the riffs are menacing like a grizzly bear that woke up on the wrong side of the cave.
Throughout the album you will find plenty of juggernaut sized death metal riffs along with those glass breaking drums parts that inject such raw explosive force into the overall mix. “Xenomorphic Conquest,” is without a doubt my favorite track off of the album, because the riffs are vicious and the song is about goddamn xenomorphs! Also, the lead guitar playing is exceptional and the notes come screaming out of the speakers like a chestbuster bursting out of a person eating dinner on a spacecraft. Another solid track is, “Let Crack the Whip,” which incorporates that Bolt Thrower style of earth shattering adrenaline pumping aggression, as well as those mighty bass lines that compliment the music’s devastating tone. Tracks like, “Plague Storm” and “Brain Rot,” are a couple sinister offerings of gruesome old school sounding death metal. I thought, “Brain Rot,” was a cyclone of hellish sounding chaos and the tempo change about midway through the song really grabbed my attention.
“Charred Field of Slaughter,” is an album that I think people are either going to embrace because of the consistent old school style compositions, or they are going to have a metal elitist temper tantrum due to the fact that they want bands to be “unique,” which is really code for they want douchebags who ride old fashion bicycles to play shitty black metal with elements of post-punk.
I think Bear Mace is a band that actually understands what it takes to write some strong headbanging pieces of music, and more than likely does not give a damn if the elitists listen to the them or not. Anyone looking for some solid old school death metal should definitely give this album a listen. If any people want to complain about this album, just be very careful, because you might end up getting destroyed by bears one day.
I think Bear Mace is a band that actually understands what it takes to write some strong headbanging pieces of music, and more than likely does not give a damn if the elitists listen to the them or not. Anyone looking for some solid old school death metal should definitely give this album a listen. If any people want to complain about this album, just be very careful, because you might end up getting destroyed by bears one day.
Listen to "Hibernation/Destroyed by Bears" below:
