Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Dismember - Like an Ever Flowing Stream (1991)
"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.