CADAVER SHRINE

CADAVER SHRINE "Benighted Desecration"

By Dr. Abner Mality

When it comes to metal musicians who are insanely busy, two names come to mind. One is Swedish master death metal guitarist Rogga Johansson, aka "Rogga of the Thousand Bands". The other is Dutchman Maurice De Jong. the sole mind behind CADAVER SHRINE, who also is in a bewildering number of musical projects, some of them only faintly metal. The gruesome noise project GNAW THEIR TONGUES is likely his most well-known effort.

CADAVER SHRINE is another one, the latest (I think?). This one is dedicated to brutish old school death metal in the fashion of old BOLT THROWER, ASPHYX, AUTOPSY and the like. This is knuckle-dragging Neanderthal death of the most primitive kind, not quite true death-doom (which de Jong handles in THE SOMBRE) but not that far off, either. This is death metal that's morbidly obese. waddling and trudging along with thick and groovy riffs.

I imagine Maurice probably churned this out in a day or two, but he certainly understands the form and structure of what he's doing very well. "The Reverberation" eases us to a more basic, primitive sound, and then the likes of "And Death Crawls" and "Dragged Away" really open fire. Anybody into BOLT THROWER's "Warmaster" or just about any ASPHYX is gonna dig this the most. Occasionally, there are attempts at some melodic, almost Gothic lead work, heard to best effect on "The Shattered Corpse", but guitar soloing here is sure not what you'd call shredding.

It's really enjoyable for fans of rock-solid doom laced old school death...fans of any "core" sound or tech-death can forget it. I'm sure Maurice is already probably three projects down the line from CADAVER SHRINE.

CHAOS RECORDS 

CADAVER SHRINE