Brutally Deceased, Dead Lover's Guide

Man, to tell you the truth, with a rather under-whelming name like Brutally Deceased, I wasn’t gong to spend but a minute or two of my time listening to this band’s debut effort Dead Lover’s Guide. Thankfully, the Czech group’s early Grave-inspired brand of old school Swedish death metal was more then enough to pique my interest. In fact, the down-tuned ferocity bellowing from my meager speakers is enough to split my sullen skull into a maniacal smile — this shit just drips old school death metal.

Using a fairly raw and buzz-sawing production, Dead Lover’s Guide delivers a solid balance between all-out blasting malevolence with just enough groove to keep the nine tracks on the this album from overstaying their welcome. Make one of those songs a decent, yet more driving cover of Dismember’s classic “Override of the Overture,” and you’ve got me — hook, line and sinker.

Album opener “Lustful Sodomy in the House of God” erupts out of the gate with an urgent, pile-driving bit of drum work and memorable riffs in the vein of early Grave, Entombed and Unleashed. Once the vocals kick in, all hell breaks loose. Man, these guys have got that old school Swedish sound down right. The guys carry that vibe through the rampant title track and the rest of the album. It’s the longer, more diverse songs that really capture that authentic sound, but don’t get caught up in them — their shorter, more blasting counterparts are equally nasty.

Brutally Deceased have done themselves some good with this debut album. It’s got just about everything you could want in a released aimed at capturing an older sound. It’s not predictable or fake as some of revivalist material has been the past year or two. Dead Lover’s Guide is raw, honest and down right bruising.