A band of technical death metal titans, Flub were formed back in 2013 before members went on to create music with Rivers Of Nihil, Vale Of Pnath and Alterbeast and in 2019 the time had come for their self-titled debut album release. For fans of bands such as The Black Dahlia Murder, Exoplanet era The Contortionist and Continuum, Flub aim to experiment with the death metal genre and the resultant product is an admirable effort. This debut album is a concept album and tells the story of a hero who has failed in his quest and is left to wander the realm plagued by his failure. The hero finds themselves on the brink of death but is discovered by a dark being before fading away, the being offers the hero a second chance at life if he offers his body as a vessel to achieve the beings quest to destroy Mother Nature.
Flub starts off with the no-holds-barred ‘Last Breath’, a track which gives us an immediate flavour of the kind of experimentation the band hope to achieve and sets the standard for the rest of the album. In-keeping with technical death metal tropes, ‘Last Breath’ and subsequent track ‘Blossom’ manage to deliver sweeping guitars, punishing blast beats and an infectiously groovy bass; Flub have created an album that every technical death fan will like without giving up the need for melody.
The album ticks over into ‘Umbra Mortis’ and the full range of influences on this album really start to come to light, most notably from massively varying styles from Cumbia to classical. This track is one of two standout tracks on the album to me, and it felt as though Flub had perfected their signature sound. Initially the vocals on ‘Flub’ received a lukewarm reception from me, but by ‘Umbra Mortis’ the band had come together to release a mature sound and growls from Alterbeast frontman Michael Alvarez seemed to fit in with the sound.
Flub go on to deliver two solid technical death metal tunes with ‘Dream’ and ‘Rise From Your Grave’ before it gets to ‘Rebirth’, my favourite track on Flub alongside ‘Umbra Mortis’. ‘Rebirth’ starts off with a vastly different tone to the majority of the album and treats us to an almost delicate intro, again leaning into the array of influences they have drawn from for this album. A track set on pushing the boundaries of the technical death genre, ‘Rebirth’ comes with heavy lean on clean vocals and allowed Flub to deliver a degree of genuine emotion rather than aggression which is crucial for them on this concept album.
Ending with ‘Wild Smoke’, the album takes an almost ethereal turn as the fantasy theme is well and truly set. A strong finish to the album, we see a return to a more classic death metal sound that carries over the classical theme of ‘Rebirth’, though this theme takes the back seat. An appropriate place to end the album, ‘Wild Smoke’ ends this portion of Flubs story at a place that feels both satisfactory and teases the opportunities in place to continue this tale.
Although initially I had a somewhat lukewarm reception to Flubs debut album, listening to it again allowed me to fully appreciate what the band was trying to achieve; a technical death metal concept album that experiments with the genres boundaries.
This is a solid effort delivered and I am excited to hear what direction the band takes this story in.
7/10 RIFFS
Holly
FFO: The Black Dahlia Murder, At The Gates, Rings Of Saturn, Rivers Of Nihil, Inanimate Existence, Vale Of Pnath.