Feretro – The Mortuary Destiny Of Flesh

Feretro is an old-school death metal combo from Huepil, Bio-Bio (Chile). After five demo releases, two EPs and a Split tape with Silure, their first full-length album (this pro CD with 8-pages booklet is limited to 300 copies!) got released recently through Nihilistic Holocaust Recs. The album entitled The Mortuary Destiny Of Flesh consists of following nine tracks:

1. Twilight of Life

2. Towards Perishment

3. The Ancient Horror

4. In Agony

5. The Hour of Death

6. Time to Die

7. Death’s Cycle

8. Flesh for Worms

9. Epitaph

After the opening short slow intro “Twilight of Life”, first thing to be noticed is their intense mix of an old-school death and thrash metal, and even with some doom influences, that is deeply rooted in the spirit of the late 80’s and early 90s. Overall sound/production is deliberately kept raw and rough, heavy and straightforward, with an extended focus on authentic and traditional/old-school song structures rather than modern complexities. The atmosphere fits the old-school sound of the band who aims for a dark and ghoulish atmosphere, often built through the contrast between fast and slow passages.

Some of the other characteristics of the record are dual-vocals with a mix of guttural growls and piercing screams, guitars featuring a mix of energizing fast tremolo-picked aggression and slow, suffocating riffs paired with few melodic and old-school solos, a steady double bass keeping the rhythm, and finally the drumming which is quite competent throughout the whole album.

My favourite tracks are “The Ancient Horror” being an energetic song with wide vocal range and effective fast riffs and blastbeats, and the closing one called, “Epitaph” which adds an unexpected layer of atmosphere, but equally due to the inclusion of keyoards, capturing the moment of doom and horror.

In conclusion; The Mortuary Destiny Of Flesh is not groundbreaking, genre-defining album, nor is it trying to reinvent anything, and that’s exactly its biggest strength. On the other hand there’s something satisfying in the way how it feels coherent and natural, with no triggered perfection, no sterile polish, just pure decaying & thrashing sound of old-school honest death metal. Another strength of the record is its diverse and varied structure, a dynamic shifts and variation of fast and slow moments that keep listeners entertained without feeling bored.

The Mortuary Destiny Of Flesh is recommended for fans of classic death metal who appreciate a traditional and no-frills approach to the genre and especially those who worship early Death, Morgoth, Asphyx, Obituary, Grave, Incantation, early Pestilence and other old South American death/thrash metal bands.

For additional information on this nine-tracker full-length visit label’s bandcamp, and afterwards listen to the entire album following the link below.