It’s been three years since Deeds Of Flesh released the rather disappointing Crown Of Souls and much has changed with the band, both in and out of the studio during that span. Longtime bassist/vocalist Jacoby Kingston left the group and was replaced by Spawn Of Possession bassist Erlend Caspersen and the band returned to being a quartet for the first time since 1999′s Path Of The Weakening with the addition of technical progressive guitarist Sean Southern.

The biggest change of all was Deeds Of Flesh‘s sound. Early in their career they were a straight forward, high paced, brutal death metal machine. Earlier this decade they morphed into a more technical brutal death metal outfit, although their recent releases have been plagued with songwriting laziness and a definite lack of creativity. It was obvious the band needed a change and they certainly got it with the release of 2008′s Of What’s To Come.

While Deeds Of Flesh‘s earlier releases had a degree of technicality to them, the material they wrote isn’t even in the same league as the material on Of What’s To Come. The songs on this effort sound like a high level technical death metal band playing Deeds Of Flesh covers. The change is similar to the startling transformation of Decrepit Birth.

The songs retain the same start-stop chugging riffing style, however the new stuff is so much more polished and layered than ever before. The guitar playing is astounding, both Erik and Sean blaze through the album’s nine tracks with high level precision and they make it sound easy, they make the riffing of Necrophagist‘s Muhammed Suicmez sound almost simplistic by comparison, it’s really an impressive display. The bass playing of Erlend Caspersen is pretty amazing, he does things that Jacoby was simply not technically capable of and he really helps add to the band’s sound. Mike Hamilton continues to impress behind the kit as his performances improve with every passing release.

Thankfully even with the added technicality, the brutality of Deeds Of Flesh remains. The tracks are vicious and high paced aural assaults. The high and low vocal assault continues with this effort, it really sounds as though Jacoby never left, which I was very happy to hear. Best of all, the production is crystal clear and it’s very easy to distinguish one instrument from the next.

Although I am thrilled that Deeds Of Flesh completely overhauled their rather stagnant sound, I must admit I’m a little disappointed they took the technical aspect as far as they did. For me, the most entertaining Deeds Of Flesh material was their most simplistic. Gradually Melted and Trading Pieces are still my favorite Deeds Of Flesh releases. The material wasn’t terribly complex, but it was very catchy and aggressive. If you can listen to "Three Minute Crawlspace" or "Acid Troops" without thrashing like a crazed maniac, I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you. The newer material is catchy, but there’s so much going on that I often find myself getting lost in the sea of technical riffing to really be able to get into the rhythm of the songs. I just don’t find myself banging my head or tapping my toes to the material as much as I do with the earlier stuff, but I do appreciate great technical death metal and Of What’s To Come is certainly a very technical release.

Of What’s To Come is a worthy purchase for both brutal death metal and technical death metal fans alike. Brutal death metal fans will go ape shit over the band’s heavy, crushing sound and fans of technical death metal will be left drooling and twitching uncontrollably trying to grasp everything that’s going on. Personally, I love the album as a technical death metal release, it’s just so intense and there’s so much going on that it really takes a lot of listens to hear everything that’s happening. As a brutal death metal release, I’m not as much of a fan because it does lack that catchy hook that draws me in for repeated listens. Regardless, if you’re into brutal technical death metal, this shit will make you lose your shit. Great release definitely worthy of all death metal fans’ attention!

Review byTeufel