Search - Dismember :: Where Iron Crosses Grow

Where awesome albums grow

Matt Pullen | USA, Maryland | 09/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even though they may not be the most popular DM band in the genre, no one can deny the cult status of Dismember - the kings of a metal style often referred to as `Swedeath' (a style which they usurped and conquered with their killer debut, "Like an Ever Flowing Stream"). When a veteran band like Dismember goes without releasing an album for four years, fans are definitely going to expect something bigger and better than their previous work upon their reversion. Without a doubt, this puts a lot of pressure on the band - they need to keep fresh sound, but maintain that traditional style. People had high expectations and their rabid hunger for Swedeath needed to be quenched: kind of like a drug addict going through withdrawal. Finally, four long and quiet years have passed...was it worth the wait?



RUUUUUAAAAGHH!!! HELL YES IT WAS!!!



Ladies and gentleman...say hello to THE death metal album of the year! Dismember have stormed the scene once again, leaving many paralyzed, dead, and brain damaged with another winning album that makes for a glorious return, as well as exceeds the attempts of others. `Where Ironcrosses Grow' is a counterattack against everything wrong with death metal today: repetitive, no-rhythm, listless and boring wannabe bands. What really kills death metal today is apathy - there is little to no passion IN the music. Some death metal musicians may have passion for music (You're definitely going to need it if you ever want to survive in the business), but in order for it to be good; you have to apply just as much enthusiasm to the music.



Dismember combine the elements of old school death metal (Autopsy, Possessed, and early Death) with good old slabs of thrash and add their own melodic death spin to the mix. Gothenburg bands...step aside, because you've been schooled; schooled by a band that represents what REAL melodic death metal is all about. What it should always be about is baking a big, thick, and delicious cake of pure death metal, and then icing that tasty and dangerous morsel with the sweetness of melody. I don't care if you like cake or not, damnit, you're going to eat it anyways!



Every single song is packed with raging heavy death metal riffs, sharp axe-like melody, and murderous lyrics that any psychopath could appreciate. The ear assault begins with `Where Ironcrosses Grow' which is a taste of pure old school death metal. Here, the war begins and there is no turning back! Riffs...ATTACK! Within seconds you've been blown to bits by a the rapid cannon-like drums while the guitars are causing carnage within your brain and smashing your face into the wall with powerful metal churning rhythm and punishing melodies.



You'll definitely get your fair share of medical bills as repercussion for headbanging with the speed demons. Songs like `Forged With Hate' will get your neck going when it opens up with a chilling sound of a gun cocking, and then BANG, you're forced right into the whirlwind. Furious tremolo picking seethes in every single swift song. Songs like `As The Coins Upon Your Eyes' possess some slick chugging strumming, until it builds up to a tremolo riff extravaganza, leaving nothing but a pile of mush where your brain once sat. The drums blast away while the guitars and bass are busy slapping you in the face.



The heavy and more spaced out songs trudge along, like soldiers marching in a muddy swamp. `Where Angels Fear To Tread' opens with the aforementioned styled riffs and continues with some spoken word about World War II, until...whoa, what is that sound? It's the sound of bombs dropping and gun fire underneath the traversing riffs. The lyrics lead me to conclude that this is a song about America dropping the two atomic bombs on Japan, and the horror of the many noncombatant deaths. Steady drums with booming bass and loud guitars take control to keep that marching feeling going.



The majority of the album possesses thrashy death songs, more than slower ones. Tracks like `As I Pull the Trigger,' and `Tragedy of the Faithful' are one of the many forceful songs you'll encounter on this little disc. Maybe you'll find more comfort with the less aggressive tenors of `Children of the Cross,' `Chasing the Serpent,' or `Where Angels Fear to Tread,' but only a damn fool would shrug off either styles. You want diversity? Diversity is there.



The production is very punchy, more so than any of their other albums, allowing for a pleasantly crunchy and serene experience. Fred Estby's drums blast, crash, and stomp the glutes of the weak with pummeling blast beats and other bone breaking drumming styles. The trademark Dismember chainsaw guitars retain their place in the band; buzzing loudly with the infused fervency of napalm. Maybe Bruce Campbell should consider replacing his chainsaw arm with one of these slaughter machines. How anyone not love that grinding riff monster?



Matti Karki's vocal performance is nothing short of resembling a raging madman gone astray from an asylum. He spits out the lyrics on cue with machinegun speed and amazing monstrous growls. Kids, let this be a lesson to you - don't ever do bad stuff, because when you die, you'll be on your way to Hell. When you descend to your eternal torment you will hear a demon bellowing with the rage of Hell itself...could that be...Satan? Nah, it's just Matti Karki working on the lyrics for the new Dismember album.



Personal album highlights - As I Pull the Trigger, Tragedy of the Faithful, Where Angels Fear to Tread, and everything else.



If you ever decide to buy any new death metal album this year, make it this one. Heck, if you decide to buy any album at all, go with this. If you don't enjoy this piece of death metal greatness, well, I'm sorry; I can't help you. Why? Because you're already dead."

Crushing brutality from the masters of death metal.

Brasington | Riverside, CA United States | 08/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dismember are lumped in geographically with In Flames, At the Gates, etc. as NWOSDM bands. What Iron Crosses proves, though, is that they have greater longevity in them than those bands. In Flames doesn't really exist stylistically as death metal anymore and At the Gates, well, just doesn't exist. Dismember may not be the most original band, but they keep delivering brutal lyrics and dense guitar riffs aplenty. Their newest album is similar to the ones before it, and that's a compliment.



If you like brutal death metal, you will like this album. The only question to ask yourself is how fast you like it. Dismember rarely gets up to the speed of, say, Suffocation, but they do move a little quicker on this CD than others they've done, most notably Massimum Killing Capacity. Some fans think that's the high-water mark for this band; others call it derivitave garbage and prefer the band's Death Metal or Indecent & Obscene, which move along at a brisker pace. This CD tends to be a mixture of the 2 styles: the first 2 songs are the quickest, the rest, especially "Me-God", lurch like a drunk rhinoceros. That's the only difference between merely liking Iron Crosses or loving it, the speed preference.



The songs all demonstrate Dismember's greatest attribute--the ability to flex gargantuan riffs. The guitars are up front and down-tuned to maximize their brutality. The production is sweet. It may not be the second coming of death metal, but Dismember have put out another solid set of heavy songs to rape your eardrums over.



Plus, the cover illustration has a meat monster impaling dwellers of some abstract city. Cool. Bash your brains in.











"

Old School Swedish Metal...I love it!!

ghost_faced_killer | I DUNNO? | 06/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dismember doesn't need an introduction. Or so I would think and every other death metal fan out there. But when I play this new record for friends, their reactions are unbelievable: `Hey, they've got Kill Switch Engage riffs and they're influenced by In Flames and Every Time I Die. Is this death metal?'. Uhm, yes! Those bands are influenced by Dismember you mean, or Entombed, or whatever. Dismember is back indeed with a sound which is typical for this band. This is how death metal sounded in Sweden back in the nineties and what made it special. So all those diehard fans will not be disappointed! Where Ironcrosses Grow is in fact a cannon with ten cluster grenades. "Tragedy Of The Faithful" and the monstrous mid-tempo "Children Of The Cross" are my favourites on this album. The rest are in the best Dismember-tradition, brilliant riffing although not complex. You have to be Swedish I think to come up with something like this. If you like this band, I've got one word for you: it starts with a `b' and ends with `uy'. For all the people who want to know where current bands get their riffs or their sound, check your local music store at the section `old school Swedish death metal'."