CUTTERRED FLESH is a death metal band from Czech, who formed in 2001. Their latest album, “Love At First Bite,” is their sixth full-length; they have also released two demos and a split. The band’s overall sound is on the brutal death metal side of the extreme metal field but they also show a highly technical prowess. At times, I even hear a hint of black metal. The pristine production, perhaps too clean for the style, lends the album a modern atmosphere. In essence, this album will kill you ten different ways but sound damn good doing it. Their extreme take on death metal keeps the technical elements from being too flashy. This isn’t so much flashy “whiddly wham” as it is a smorgasbord of insane riffs and drums. I prefer this route because it works in keeping the album grounded within its own extremity, resulting in a very tight album; even when the music steps outside the box, it still makes sense within confines of the album as a whole.

“Xenomorphic Annihilation: Earth Ravaged,” kicks the album off with a flurry of drums and surprisingly groovy riffs. The undercurrent of double bass adds a massively thick sea of vitriol to the song. It goes for the throat but my favorite parts are the errerie, subtle keys that blanket the liminal spaces when the song drops down to a lower tempo.  “Repeated Intersexual Misunderstanding,” opens with clean notes, another little surprise that I didn’t see coming. Did the band have to do this? Could the song just start with the familiar rumble and gurgle of BDM? Sure, but why not stretch the sound? Why not be little different and use these little details to take a different approach? CUTTERRED FLESH answer these questions with a "Hell yes" and this song, and the album, is all the better for it.

While the man spits and spews their disgusting art, the otherworldly sounds add a layer of uncommon approach. . that isn’t to say their death metal itself isn’t intriguing. In fact, just listen to the passage between 2:28 and 2:50…..dense but groovy, just as world building and encompassing as their less obvious approaches. The band is at their best when they zero in on seamless transitions across their sound. “The Symptoms of Parasite,” is a prime example of what I am speaking of. The opening flattens everything down to nothing, turning into a stampeding groove then adding in bursts in tech fury….all within the first 30 seconds. As the aggression ramps up, the guitars come alive to pepper the song’s nooks and crannies with sick little displays that add so much to the song. The alien sound amongst the chaos does much of the same, changing the song in small ways that big impacts.

“Sarkam’s Wrath Unleashed,” is one of my favorite songs on the album. Everything that makes the album special is nailed right here within the three and a half minute runtime. The cadence of the vocals is catchy, grasping the hooks from the rhythm and throwing them out to see what sticks. As the riffs twist and reform to new displays of maximum efficiently, so do the drums, counteracting the changes, making sure the band’s foundation, however twisted, never begins to crack. The spoken word at just over the halfway mark is a nice break before the song double downs on their ultimate crush mode. “Amanda” is absolutely fantastic, another song that nails down what the band is going for on the album. I had a decent pair of headphones on while listening…this song filled up my head! All the instruments hit at the same time but each elements manages to stand on its own. The groovy parts around the 1:05 mark and, later, at the 3:00 minute mark, bridge the other elements of the song together. Massive song.

The final effort is “Spawn of Vathus,” and it hammers expectedly, not really offering anything new…until it does. The song slows down here and there, letting the notes breathe and regroup. The middle portion is spacey, a bleak void among more immediate celestial bodies. The contradiction between the styles sends the song to another universe. I hope in the future, the band can really grasp these oddball ideas with their heavier side. The band feels like they are on the verge of releasing something truly masterful. Until then, “Love At First Bite,” will work just fine.