It’s always nice to see that people other than Swedes have a go at melodic death metal. However, from the start it’s clear that someone else probably won’t ever get that awesome tone bands like At The Gates got. Nevertheless, here it is. UK one-man project Foul Body Autopsy released a new EP, The Unquiet Dead. Only about a year after the successful concept-album This Machine Kills Zombies, we can see that some guys keep their records going. There isn’t that much of a stylistic differences between the two of them, so fans will be satisfied. Let’s dig deeper in to what it sounds like.

The first song, Consumed By Decay, has a clear artistic vision right from the start. And that’s good. An artist has to be able to pursue his intents and own tastes. However, for me, it didn’t really do it. The opening riff for some reason made me think about The Final Countdown (you know it, the only Europe-song most people actually know). After that, it gets more like melodic death should be of course. But it still wasn’t quite there yet. To me, the whole song is more like a musical cliché than it is a marvel of great songwriting. But clichés aren’t bad. They’re easy to listen to. They’re easy to digest. We like them. If you’re into melodic death metal, you’ll probably like it. But I honestly thought this first song was a bit of a let-down. I’ll let you in on why.

That tone though

Let’s get a little into what I already hinted at in the beginning of this article, the tone. Something I always pay attention to is : what does it sound like. How’s production done, how do the instruments sound, what tone is dialed in. Stuff like that. And even though production-wise, the job’s been done well, there’s something about it which nags at me. To my ears, the guitar had too much of a clear sound. When I think melodic death metal, I think about a filthy tone. A guitar sound which would make people think your amp is broken. This tone would be great in some other setting, don’t get me wrong. It just doesn’t seem to fit well in the mix. Maybe next time, it wouldn’t be too bad to mess around with a Boss HM-2. Then again, can’t argue about taste. The vocals on the other hand are awesome. They add the much-needed brutality to the whole.

But wait… there’s more

Of course, sometimes you need to see (or well, listen) through things. The next song, The Impending Darkness, reeled me in right from the start. The guitar riff starts off, but it’s the drum accents which give the intro its power. Musically speaking, there’s a lot of repetition to the song. It consists mostly of one main guitar riff, which is repeated with slight variations. But when you do that in certain way, you can get away with it. The changing drumbeats underneath it, together with very powerful vocals, render it something worth listening to.

And that brings us to Searching For Sanctuary, the last song of this EP. It’s really similar to the first song actually. I don’t want to be the guy to break down someone’s music, and I hope I’m not doing that. But the song is also really some cliché to me. You have this catchy, almost poppy, riff throughout the verses. Then during the (pre)chorus, it gets more melodic. And if there were no vocals, I wouldn’t even know this was supposed to be melodic death metal. The songs aren’t bad. It’s just not what you’re promised. To me at least.

If you’re a fan of Foul Body Autopsy, you enjoyed This Machine Kills Zombies, or you’re a fan of this style of songwriting in general. Then this is a great EP for you, you’ll love it. If you’re more of an oldschool guy however, enjoying band like At The Gates, Entombed, Carcass. Then this might just not be what you’re looking for.

Release Date : March 6th, 2019
Label : Independent
Track List :
1. Consumed by Decay
2. The Impending Darkness
3. Searching for Sanctuary