Drums, guitars, vocals. Five tracks that don't quite make it to 15 minutes. Unimaginable brutality. It's been one hell of a long time since I've heard some honest-to-dog death metal, and Fleshdriver certainly qualifies. But it's what Tyler Denslow and Quinn Riley do with the sound that is pretty much mindfucking.

Fleshdriver Leech EP (self-released)

For those who aren't steeped in the nuances of loud music from the 80s and 90s, I guess you might think that combining the approaches of Cannibal Corpse, Slayer and Obituary wouldn't be too difficult (or even necessary). But Fleshdriver does that and then some. Denslow merges the vocal approach of Tom Araya and the majestic thrash riffage of Tom Hanneman of Slayer, while Quinn Riley fuses the technical approach of Obituary's Donald Tardy with the trademark double kick bass drum work of Cannibal Corpse's Paul Mazurkiewicz. A friend of mine (who knows a lot more than I about these sounds) emailed me and said "In a blindfold taste test, I would have bet money this was a new/reunion Dismember album. Very well done." He's far more succinct (and accurate) than me.

There's no bass, and it's not missed. Denslow's guitars soar and piledrive with aplomb. As near as I can tell, there are few guitar overdubs. In fact this set sounds very much like a direct-to-tape or "live-in-studio" effort. It's not (the vocals are too distinct for that), but that DIY feel is yet another big plus. Back in the day, there were "extreme hardcore" bands like Earth Crisis that appropriated elements of thrash and death metal and placed them in a punk setting. Fleshdriver has appropriated a few hardcore elements and put them in a death metal setting.

I'd call this an epic thrill ride, but it's hardly epic. The songs are short and sweet and finish far too quickly. There are few bands attempting this sound today, and the influences I mentioned don't sound like this anymore, either. I don't know where Fleshdriver is going, but right now this band is definitely where it's at.

Jon Worley