Dismember - Like an Ever Flowing Stream (1991)^{Release ID: 655}

Dismember to me will always be a band that sounds just like Entombed. This comparison in some ways may be unfair today as Entombed moved away from this sound a long time ago, whereas Dismember have stuck to the tried and tested formula for a long time now. But back in 1991, this sounded extremely similar to Entombed's Left Hand Path that came out a year earlier. But none of this is to say that Like An Everflowing Stream is not a good album, because that's definitely not the case. It's just hard for me to consider it to be influential or essential when it is easier to view it as a very good clone.

The main difference between the two albums is that Dismember's is a fair bit more brutal. The riffs flow thick and fast, the drumming is much more rapid with more blast beats, and generally, the production is heavier. In fact, I'd have to say that I enjoy this album more than Left Hand Path, but not more than Entombed's second release Clandestine. It's short and sweet at 31 minutes (at least it was before all the bonus tracks in recent years) and has enough classics to make me come back for more regularly. Highlights are Bleed For Me and in particular Dismembered with it's fantastic melody and blasting, but it's all pretty solid stuff.

"Suffer a thousand deaths!"

Working through my physical copies of releases is highlighting some glaring holes in my reviews here at Metal Academy.  Near the top of the list of the 'missing' has to be Like An Ever Flowing Stream.  With only a limited level of patience with Swedish death metal there is still no excuse for me not getting around to this one given that I own it on vinyl and it is one of my most frequently played.  Off bat, I prefer this album to Left Hand Path any day.  Both albums are massively important (as I recognise in my review of Entombed's debut) but Like An Ever Flowing Stream possesses more depth and overall appeal to my aging ears.  There is a real motor feeling going on throughout LaEFS, one that borders on an almost relentless delivery.

There is a section at around 03:20 of album opener Override of the Overture that is simply one of my favourite moments in metal ever.  It just absolutely shivers me to my timbers and that's within the first three-and-a-half minutes of the record.  Likewise the buzzsaw build of And So Is Life alongside its rabid spine of racing death metal is a superb way to open side 2 of 4 (on my version of the LP at least).  Dismember on their debut managed to clock a lot of the same reference points as Entombed but I sense there is much more musicality to LaEFS by way of comparison to LHP.  

Now, none of the above means the debut from Dismember is perfect by any means.  I happen to think it suffers from a rather soggy sounding production that somehow seems to cause reverb between the drums of Fred Estby and the vocals of Matti Kärki.  In isolation there is nothing with either of the contributions these two make, indeed both are very integral to the successes I can pick up from the album.  For either of them not be lost against the backdrop of those vicious riffs is an achievement in itself.  However, I do not think they have been afforded enough space to truly appear as cohesive parts.  In addition to this the bass drum of Estby is far too thick also which is particularly audible on Skin Her Alive.

Still, I cannot deny the infectious appeal of Sickening Art, despite this muddy/soggy production issue plaguing it more than most tracks.  Here though we get the haunting melody of the guitar of David Blomqvist that manages to create its own threatening atmosphere as it replicates at various other points in the album.  Often the 'lead' work is more some well considered injection of fear and dread, something which the album has in droves.  This is probably another reason why LaEFS sits so much better with me than the debut by their fellow countrymen, it just feels better written with a sense that there was a much bigger kitbag at their disposal when it came to putting their debut together.

A while back, in connection with a review for Carnage's Dark Recollections I asked if anyone could enlighten me on the "swedish death metal sound" which both Daniel and Ben kindly did. So fast forward just over a year from that release and Carnage were no more, with three of the members now in the lineup of Dismember and the band releasing their debut full-length, Like an Ever Flowing Stream. Well, I gotta say, Like an Ever Flowing Stream certainly illustrates that swedish sound better than any release I have heard previously. The distortion on the guitars is cranked up to a ridiculous level and it certainly imparts a wall-of-sound effect to the riffing, but I've got to say, I'm not completely at home with it. It sounds too overdriven to me and gives the album the effect of the various components working against each other rather than together. The vocals seem to be fighting for dominance over the all-encompassing guitar and the poor old rhythm section are pretty much on a hiding to nothing, although Fred Estby does a valiant job behind the kit and is one of the album's winners. Whereas with Carnage that sound produced a down 'n' dirty effect, here it's more of an eardrum-bursting fight for sonic supremacy and the often quite shred-like solos just seem to add more fuel to the fire. Matti Kärki's vocals are great, very gruff and gravelly and, along with Estby's drumming, are the highlights of the album for me.

It is very rarely that I would utter these words in respect to extreme metal, but I really wish that Dismember had dialled it back a bit on Like an Ever Flowing Stream because underneath all that aural blitzkrieg is a decent album. There are some terrific riffs, but they are just buried under so much distortion that I personally found it a distraction. I guess I am more drawn to the Floridian sound as it feels less artificial and has a more earthy, atmospheric aspect to it than this out and out blitzkrieg approach.