Matt Harvey and crew continue to forge ahead with Gruesome, a side project worshipping all things early Death. Savage Land, Gruesome’s debut full-length from last year, was well received, and I just saw Gruesome play not one, but two, blistering live sets at the recently held Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore over Memorial Day weekend (the first set was filling the slot vacated by Sinister, who couldn’t make it due to visa problems). Both sets were excellent, and Gruesome continue to increase their visibility.
At any rate, Dimensions Of Horror is a new twenty minute EP from Gruesome, featuring six songs emulating early Death with no surprises, whatsoever. Riffs, chops, grunts, a galloping pace, and a vaguely analog sounding production grace Dimensions Of Horror, which picks up pretty much where Savage Land left off.
About the only difference that I can discern is that the sort of muffled production of Dimensions Of Horror sounds more like an earlier period of Death than Savage Land did. If Savage Land is Gruesome’s homage to Leprosy, then Dimensions Of Horror is their homage to Scream Bloody Gore. Toss in a neat reference to early Star Trek by featuring the Guardian of Forever within the cover art, and what’s not to like?
(released June 10, 2016 on Relapse Records)
