Review: Bludgeon

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Bludgeon
“Crucify The Priest”
(Metal Blade Records)

Bludgeon is a combination of death metal, thrash metal, black metal, nu-metal and early 80’s metal. They definitely have a sound of their own blending these different styles together. The musicianship is very tight but I’m not to sure about the vocals. With music like this you might want to resort back to old school thrash vocals. The vocals displayed in this band aren’t necessarily bad but they kind of don’t really fit in with this certain band. At some points in the album the vocals do sound very good and at other times they seem to clash with the music.  The drumming  by Matt “Chewy” Dezynski is fierce and hard hitting with powerful double bass and intense beats. The guitar work displayed by singer/rhythm guitar player Mark Duca and lead guitarist Carlos Alvarez  is incredible as well as the backbone support from bass player Eric Karol. All in all Bludgeon is a great metal band. You can instantly tell that these guys are good when the album unleashes it’s monstrosity with it’s opener “Smoke Screen.”  Then you are taken through a journey as Bludgeon reveals it’s true metal power through it’s other awesome tracks such as: “Tortured Through Lies”, “Last Rites”, Abandoned”, and “Turmoil.” A highlight from the production is that this is the first band that Manowar’s Joey De Maio has produced. The production on this album is high quality and makes for a good album. “Crucify the Priest” overall is a very intense album and is strongly recommended for all of those death metal heads who are into extreme music. I’ve also heard that Bludgeon is a very powerful live band. So if you get a chance check these guys out.