Along with Death, Morbid Angel, and Repulsion, Macabre are one the true originators of death metal. It’s good to see they can still kick ass. I wasn’t so thrilled with Dahmer but Murder Metal is a return to form. I might even go as far as to say it’s their best record since Gloom. Most of these songs rule. Some of the chorus’ are unbelievably catchy. "The Hillside Stranglers" is one of the best songs they’ve ever written ("we’re gonna strangle you, we’re gonna strangle you, we’re gonna strangle you, and leave you on the hillside" - best sing along part ever!)

The production could’ve been heavier. I like the rawer sound of their 80’s records better. But most of the riffs are heavy enough on their own that it doesn’t matter, but if they’re gonna have the bass so prominent in the mix, I wish they’d throw some distortion on it. This is death metal, not Iron Maiden.

This is classic Macabre though. If you are any kind of death metal fan you should know what that means (if you don’t, run out and get this or Gloom, or Sinister Slaughter immediately). They’ve been playing their brand of murder metal for 20 years now. Fortunately, this world is fucked up enough that they’ll never run out of serial killers and mass murderers to write about. This time, along with the Hillside Stranglers and Jack The Ripper, the subjects include that lady who ran a nursing home and killed the old people for their social security checks, and Jerry Brudos, the foot fetish killer. The "JERRY BRUDOS!!!!!" part of that song is another great sing along. Musically, they threw in a few melodic parts here and there, something I don’t think they’ve tried before, but managed to pull it off without sounding like some faggot power metal band.

It’s been good seeing Macabre finally tour a lot these past few years and finally start to get the recognition they deserve. I hope they can keep this up for another 20 years.

Written By: Josh Martin