SUFFER
SUFFER "Grand Canvas of the Aesthete"
By Dr. Abner Mality
Well, now Sioux Falls, South Dakota can say they've got a death metal band. Looking deeper into SUFFER's history, these guys have been around since 1989. I think I might have heard their name back in the days of paper zines, but the grandiosely titled "Grand Canvas of the Aesthete" is the first actual music I've ever heard from them. With 30 plus years to hone their craft, this should be pretty decent.
And it is! I see two of the three members of SUFFER are also in the excellent ANGEROT, which is a band more people should check out. SUFFER is more stripped down and old school than the rather symphonic ANGEROT, but they are far from a primitive band. They play a fairly complex and aggressive form of death metal with pretty shredding guitar solos. There's a certain resemblance to modern day CARCASS here, which even comes across in the vocals, which are a crispy rasp bolstered by deep roars.
Strange song titles also show SUFFER thinking outside the pinewood box. "Ashened Frolic--The Exquisite Promenade", "Inhalant Caustic Foray" and "The Fetching Cranley Gardens" are ample proof of that. SUFFER's sound is a mix of prime Floridian death metal with shades of CARCASS and IMMOLATION. It's not earth-shatteringly against the grain, but neither is it simple, boiler plate death metal. For a band that's been scratching for 35 years, this sounds fairly fresh and should please many who favor extremity in their metal. Viva Sioux Falls!