Three years ago Finnish death metal trio Galvanizer released its highly acclaimed first-length studio album “Sanguine Vigil” via the Italian underground label Everlasting Spew Records. Those who recall the old classic style of death/grind metal of the early nineties era, will remember this impressive album. The sophomore release “Prying Sight of Imperception” offers again sick guttural growls, goregrind hooks fully laden with thick guitar riffs. Upon their second return Villi Mäkinen (bass, keyboards, and vocalist), Aleksi Vähämäki (guitars, backing vocals), and Nico Niemikko (drums) present a tour de force of their old school influences. One of the strongest aspects of “Prying Sight of Imperception” is that Galvanizer recaptures classic gnarly riffs.

Album opener “Servants of the Scourge” begins with heavy grooves and low guttural growls spewing filth, the guitars sound organic as well as the chopping drums. In every line of the guitars, you will observe remarkable changes in the riffing structure. The familiar stench of filth and wickedness will have you recall the good old days of Carcass, General Surgery, and Repulsion. “The Inexorable” is full of outstanding moments driven by pummeling drums and guitars empowered by the HM-2 distortion. As the wave of the guitars stream heavily, the keyboards create an atmospheric vibe. Galvanizer on the sophomore release made some dramatic changes in the song composition. The songs will grip you with a massive storm, however the band also shows their influences to death/grind and they’re fully submerged in blood-soaked gore.

“Blaze from Within” maintains the grisly tone of the guitars, while the drums add a surge of blast beats, “Prying Sight of Imperception” brims with unmistakable classic style achieved by the Finnish trio who have imposed an excellent standard. The vocals in general have different pitches that range from low to deep growls, even the bass guitar is audible. The melodies are layered in the vein of bands like Dismember and this adds a rich flavor to the songs overall. The drums are played fast and they morph into different paces, even though the grooves usually enhance the tempo the grinding effects seem to be tremendously focused. The subtle array of the plucking bass guitar produces deep rumbles.

While some bands are considered to be clones of certain groups, Galvanizer doesn’t lack any kind of originality as they fuse the primitive elements of grind and death metal the way they prefer. The quality of the music comes from the catchy guitar hooks and the vocals, yet there’s a lot of change in the composition this time where you can simply distinguish the caliber of the Finnish trio. “Chthonic Profanation” binds grooves whereas the drums unleash plenty of fast-paced sections, the sound production on the sophomore has that characteristic gore grind effect. Therefore making them quite ideal as a new-fashioned death metal band, one of the main differences between the previous album is the meticulous texture of the guitars that drips with catchy old-school melodies.

Taking a berserker pace in other songs, the hysteric tempo romps hard on “Ground Above” and “Die De Muertos” shifts in a short rampage, offering quite the adrenaline rush. Bolstered by the incendiary tremolos and drums accelerating at full speed, whereas “The Ever-Crescent” presents hints from early Napalm Death and Carcass. Galvanizer understands how to rejuvenate the formula the drumming bounces back and forth, the buzz saw melodies bring subtle hints of Swedish death metal bands like Dismember.

The songs in general contain different influences from the old school grind and death metal, where the final track “Of Flesh Unknown” is a pure Entombed and Dismember worship. The rotten gnarly riffs are set in motion by the rhythmic guitar patterns and the bone-crushing drums triggering a series of blast beats. Galvanizer’s second full-length album stimulates the old classic ways of this sub-genre, the trio has successfully set things in order proving this time that their skills can be refined by implementing ingenious compositions.

“Prying Sight of Imperception” will be released on vinyl via Me Saco Un Ojo and the CD format will be exclusively released by Everlasting Spew Records. This is highly recommended for fans of General Surgery, Carcass, and Dismember.   

Release Date: July 30th, 2021
Label: Me Saco Un Ojo (Vinyl), Everlasting Spew Records (CD)
Tracklist:

1. The Sanguine Legacy
2. Servants of the Scourge
3. The Inexorable
4. Blaze From Within
5. Chthonic Forfanation
6. Ground Above
7. Die De Muertos
8. The Ever-Crescent
9. Grotesque Devotion
10. Of Flesh Unkown