Reviews/Interviews
... AND SAVE US FROM SILENCE:
BEST OF 2019/NEWS:
"METAL HAMMER UK issue 328" "Reviewed with almost perfect score by Hywel Davies." Full text (click here)
Metal Injection "Tech-Death Tuesday: A Retrospective Look At The Best Technical Death Metal Of 2019" Full text (click here)
Metal Injection "BLEAK FLESH Shred Through “...And Save Us From Silence" Full text (click here)
Headbangers Latinoamérica "Top 30 Albums chilenos del 2019… Metal desde el fin del mundo!" Full text (click here)
Headbangers Latinoamérica "TOP 200 ÁLBUMES LATINOS DEL 2019… Mundo, bienvenido a Latinoamérica!" Full text (click here)
Metal Injection "Tech-Death Tuesday: A Retrospective Look At The Best Technical Death Metal Of 2019" Full text (click here)
Headbangers Latinoamérica "Biblioteca Musical: Los mejores albums de Death Metal publicados durante el año 2019" Full text (click here)
Dead Rhetoric "Sifting Through Bandcamp Best-of 2019" Full text (click here)
RTMB "Top 10 del Staff RTMB | Escarto" Full text (click here)
ROBGORDLORD "Bleak Flesh- And Save is from Silence (Progressive Technical Symphonic Death Metal)" Full text (click here)
REVIEWS:
The Pichangas "Antes de finalizar, debo confesar que le tenía una fe tremenda a este trabajo cuando leí una nota publicada en este humilde sitio, en la cual nos adelantaban que en este disco iba a mostrar "una propuesta sonora fuertemente influenciada por el Metal Neoclásico con elementos Progresivos y Sinfónicos”. Afortunadamente para mi, esas palabras se hicieron más que concisas y nos regaló una de las mejores producciones del año 2019, que ya se va." Full text (click here)
Nación Progresiva "Tras dos años, Bleak Flesh vuelve a la carga con un nuevo trabajo, titulado “…And Save Us From Silence”, con el recuerdo latente de su anterior obra, pero esta vez trascendiendo más allá incluso de sus propias raíces e influencia. Si la banda ya se hacía difícil de clasificar entre caer en categorizaciones de si un Death Metal Técnico, Sinfónico, Melódico, sea la etiqueta que prefiera el oyente, ahora tomaron muchos más riesgos y experimentaciones. Su música está viva, es orgánica, pero lo mejor de todo, es que asemeja a entrar en una dinámica de descubrimiento infinito, tanto con lo exterior como lo interior, tan real como surreal, notando que no es sólo un propósito de componer para un estilo de música, si no que esta nace de manera honesta ante una necesidad de expresar tanto lo que es y más. Recoge tantas influencias variadas, desde Stratovarius y Symphony X, hasta Death y Obscura, como también de compositores desde Mozart a John Williams, y música folclórica. Y para qué decir de la parte lírica, inspirada tanto en literatura como en cine, de géneros como el Horror y la Ciencia Ficción. Aún con todo, Bleak Flesh entrega en su forma de ser algo muy único y propio de sí mismos." Full text (click here)
That Drummer Guy "Hearing this album for the first time just put my jaw to the floor in utter amazement. The songwriting and musicianship on this album is as mindblowing as it gets. While it has been 5 years since the band's first LP, the band has gotten stronger and stronger. Also getting the magnificent and blast beat extraordinaire, Marco Pitruzzella on drums is the icing on powerhouse of a cake. If you really need an explanation of this band; Imagine a Chilean version of Fleshgod Apocalypse with more synths and you are getting closer to what this band is all about. One of the more underground bands on my top 30 but you really need to go check this out, pronto" Full text (click here)
Album Reviews By Johnny "Technical/progressive death metal from Chile with neoclassical and symphonic elements. This is so incredible stuff, WHAT AN ALBUM! Tasty riffs, nice neoclassical moments here and there and memorable songs. This is next level stuff indeed, one of my favorite techdeath releases of 2019, no doubt about that." Full text (click here)
Nación Rock "Este disco es un muy buen lanzamiento porque hay un promedio que se supera, hay cuidado y preocupación en que el sonido sea de calidad y porque, además, te asegura que tras un par de escuchas se descubrirán todas las influencias que han marcado el devenir del metal chileno, desde sus primeros pasos en los años ’80." Full text (click here)
Expectador "... And Save Us From Silence is an absolute victory, and a slap to all those bands that wanted to copy what Necrophagist did at their time, which saturated technical death metal in such a way, that they turned it into a cliché in the extreme metal." Full text (click here)
Nirensimt "In this blistering 42 minutes, Bleak Flesh shows the world that they are not to be ignored. Melodic and well composed, this album grips you with virtuosity and revels in its own technicality without getting unreasonably dense, a pitfall for others in the genre." Full text (click here)
Robgordlord "Though I really love the album that came before it a lot, the new one is just better in every way, much like previous releases, very technical, the bass is amazing and the drumming is just so damn awesome along with the vocals (which there is some singing in it but it works so well). If you like tech death, melodic death and symphonic metal, check out this fucking amazing band!" Full text (click here)
Wiredopposite “The album has a lot to unpack. Even though I hardly enjoy neoclassical metal, the musicianship is a major highlight here, showing compositional strength beyond progressive death metal norms, plus Lord Marco blasting the skins at max speed always helps. If you dig layer upon layer of atmosphere, harpsichord keys and harmonized guitar leads, then this will suit you well.” Full text (click here)
Metal Injection “Bleak Flesh have crafted a track that not only has the intensity and speed of the best of the best tech-death bands but also taps into some more melodic and progressive death metal tones.” Full text (click here)
Nación Progresiva “La invitación es a oír el disco, descubrir por sí mismos las emociones entregadas, darle más de unas vueltas, ya que cada vez se le pueden encontrar más cosas para degustar dentro. Sin duda estamos ante una obra que emana creatividad y sinergia de principio a fin, marca pauta de lo que significa no cerrarse ante paradigmas y abrirse a todas las posibilidades, un álbum que trasciende de ser el nuevo álbum, sino también, EL álbum que queda instaurado como un “Must Have” de esta generación y para las futuras.” Full text (click here)
RTMB “Bleak Flesh es una banda que tiene conciencia de todo lo que se da allá fuera, no están conformes con ser simplemente una banda de death metal técnico; dominar varios aspectos musicales de muchos géneros es lo que los hace destacarse de la escena en este continente, orbitan y sobrepasan su propio eje al dictaminar los límites de su propia creatividad. ...And Save Us From Silence es atractivo gracias a su apropiado modelo progresivo cuyo ensamble es tan bestial como armónico, una bestia hecha para sobresalir y vencer a cualquiera que ose considerarse su competencia.” Full text (click here)
Mundo Rock Heavy "En ese sentido los nacionales no tienen pero ningún milímetro que envidiar a cualquier conjunto del primer orden internacional pues lo acá entregado es francamente apabullante. Un disco enorme si de apreciar las virtudes técnicas de sus músicos se trata ejecutando escalas que prácticamente desalentarían a cualquier aprendiz de guitarrista, mientras que en batería el despliegue de Pitruzzella es un vendaval de blast beats tras otro, cada uno tan o más intrincado que el que le precede." Full text (click here)
INTERVIEWS:
Metal Injection with Matías “I think we developed a way to write songs that’s different from the current tech death bands, we try to focus on an entire piece of music that flows like a story, that type of song structure works great for building the listener’s attention, of course, there’s room for guitar leads, bass flares, crazy drums, and super vocals but… Our main goal is always to try to write cool songs—ear-catching tunes with a nice vocal concept on top.” Full text (click here)
Metal Pulp and Paper with Matías December 9th 2019 “I personally have no interest on a festival parade for Bleak Flesh. It’ll be nice if somebody remembered us a band who created interesting music and still listen to our stuff in a 100 years, 200, etc. That’s it, music must be our legacy… The rest is fine (celebrations, prizes) but i’m not into ego stuff.” Full text (click here)
Metal Pulp and Paper with Matías October 1st 2019 “Music is part of history and everybody has their own heroes. If the newer generations love Kayne or another person like that… Good. Sometimes we focus a bit too much on the things we like and try to force them into the newer generations, dunno about that really. There’s a lot of new music we can explore, but the most important thing is to have fun. Life is too short to be grumpy about kids not knowing who Ozzy is.” Full text (click here)
RTMB with Matías “In our case, music and lyrics are always related to elaborated concepts. It basically responds to our desire of venturing into more complex paths both musically and lyrically, we believe that there’s always a chance of going further. Therefore, the way to channel these efforts will always have a concept representing them in our music.” Full texts (click here)
Retumba Magazine "Full interview, featuring bands like Cult of Luna, Piah Mater, The Ritual Aura, Gravemind, Heaven in Arms, Amenra and more." Full texts (click here)
Nación Progresiva with Ngen Kerruff “This feeling is the one we are trying to express through a phrase as in the end of a prayer, a prayer to an unknown god only known and seen by you and no one else. An entity of forgotten name that lays the unstoppable desire to create music in our minds. Maybe the primitive human being considers this as a divine force, a force of Nature of which few had spoken.” Full text (click here)
Nación Progresiva with Marco Pitruzzella “I absolutely LOVE Bleak Flesh. I almost cannot believe I had never really heard of them until recently. They have a very unique style that nobody really plays. The closest bands I can think of are Children of Bodom and Archspire…but even those two do not sound like Bleak Flesh. They had sent me all the songs, rough draft version with basic program drumming along to the guitar part. I then would study each song and keep a lot of the same “feeling” from the program drum parts, but of course I would add my own flavor to it! But these songs are incredible and I consider this some of my best work, it will be hard to too this album!” Full text (click here)
OVERCOMING REALITY REVIEWS:
Badgers Metal Breakdown "It makes me proud to hear this EP. These guys are amazing people and musicians, creating truly unique and inspiring Death Metal. Fans of original and slightly experimental sounds with great melody and groove, this band is for you!" 9.5/10. Full text (click here)
Reviews to my Blood "Overcoming Reality toma al género por sorpresa y me deja la certeza que acaparara la atención de muchos otros terrenos del metal. Un gran logro para la escena de Chile pero al carajo, a todos acá nos gusta verlo como una comunidad y sé de antemano que muchos veremos esto como un gran lanzamiento para el metal latinoamericano en general." 9.2/10. Full text (click here)
BDP Metal "The Cover Art is Great. This EP really magnificent, combine Progressive, Djent, Neoclassical and Electronic music perfectly." Score: 100. Full text (click here)
Dead Rhetoric "One of those bands that can play to a variety of extreme metal fans, Overcoming Reality is a sweeping piece of death metal that carries along progressive and technical tones. No shortage of melody to be found, though melodeath seems a ways from this act with a sound so intense. A barrage of speed, catchy grooves, the right amount of progressive noodling, a diverse vocal palette (both cleans/growls), and well-integrated symphonic elements all serve to point towards Bleak Flesh being a real up-and-comer in the genre. A surprisingly diverse EP worth seeking out." Full text (click here)
Keep the Metal Flowing "Another, excellent and awesome release coming from the underground is the new EP, "Overcoming Reality" from Chilean metal band Bleak Flesh (they meld progressive and technical aspects with a death metal aesthetic). I am digging the, from what it looks like to me anyway, homage to "Ghost In The Shell" (one of my all time favorite movies -the 1995 version) in the cover-art and lyrical themes. These guys are brilliant, and know what the hell they're doing. The playing is fantastic, hellish, yet controlled, heavy yet nuanced. Ripping guys, just ripping!! -Joe \m/." Full text (click here)
Toilet ov Hell "Bleak Flesh sound better than ever before, and Overcoming Reality seems to be the start of a great new direction for them. They’ve trimmed the fat from their music and shaken things up stylistically, and it has more than paid off" Full text (click here)
Nación Progresiva "Death metal técnico, así es como los chicos de Bleak Flesh autodefinen su música, lo cierto, es que son mucho más que eso. Overcoming Reality el nuevo EP llega para darnos un bálsamo de brutalidad, shredding y blast beats, sin olvidar la simpleza y el pragmatismo. Toda esta compleja y ecléctica estructura musical va hilvanando el camino para un potente mensaje existencialista." Full text (click here)
Mundo Rock Heavy "Si ya con el anterior álbum del 2014 “Trascendence”, los nacionales de Bleak Flesh te ponían el pie sobre el cráneo a la hora de demostrar la calidad de su técnico death metal, con este nuevo intento “Overcoming Reality” era de esperar que no fuera menos que aquel. Y es que ahora, en casi media hora de música los santiaguinos mantienen la misma tónica de ese estilo elegante y variado, con riffs afilados y blast beats endemoniadamente inesperados (tener un batero como Sebastián Vidal sin duda que es prenda de garantía para cualquiera) por lo que con este nuevo álbum no puedes sino esperar todo un festín de técnica y groove a raudales." Full text (click here)
Discordancia "Overcoming Reality mantiene una total coherencia, mostrando total unión entre arte gráfico, contenido musical y desglose lírico, presentándonos una placa sobresaliente con respecto a la primera mitad de este año 2017." Full text (click here)
Cornered by Wolves "The almost meditative nature of [the music] will have you bending spoons with your mind and doing triple backflips like Neo from The Matrix" Full text (click here)
Resistance Webzine "Overcoming Reality no solo continúa la expansión de un universo cada vez más fascinante, sino también nos presenta al detalle cada componente que le da vida al caos organizado que fluye en cada riff, brindándole forma y movimiento tan magnánimos como aterradores, dependiendo de la interpretación que se le dé. Bleak Flesh deja en claro que tu realidad, la mía, o la de quien sea puede ser superada sin perder en absoluto el hilo conductor con que esta placa fluye como el universo en su estado natural." 5/5. Full text (click here)
Breakdown Mosh "Un disco maestro! Que rompe todo limite de lo pensado en el genero del deathmetal, tanto en sus extremos brutales como atmosféricos, un derroche de técnica de cada uno de sus integrantes que nos hace sentir que el viaje sonoro es un verdadero frenesí vertiginoso en el que nunca sabemos donde terminaremos. Overcoming Reality sin duda es un punto alto de este 2017 que ya se nos va, un aplauso desde esta plataforma a los chicos de Bleak Flesh y gracias por tremendo trabajo." Full text (click here)
Dead Rhetoric Best of 2017 "One of those extreme metal acts that can seemingly pander to a wide breadth of metal fans, you’ll find an impressive variety of material on Overcoming Reality. It’s super-technical in its expression of death metal, but never comes across as too overbearing due to some impressive synth work, varied vocals, and doses of progressive/melodic guitar play and groove. Truly expansive stuff." Full text (click here)
Nephilim Art Best of 2017 Included us on their Best EPs of 2017 list with great bands like Promethean, Thetys and Godeater. Full text (click here)
The Resistance Webzine Best 12 Chilean Metal Albums of 2017 "Overcoming Reality" made the twelve top list of 2017 releases. Full text (click here)
Headbangers Latinoamérica Best EPs of 2017 Our friends on HBL included our EP on their list with amazing artists. Full text (click here)
Nación Progresiva Best 50 albums of 2017 We made another list this time with really big names of the Progressive scene. Full text (click here)
INTERVIEWS:
Rock2Rock Complete interview with Matías Quiroz. Band history, influences, songwriting, chilean metal scene, future plans (spanish). Full text (click here)
Arise Zine Full compilation of interviews and notes about the band (spanish). Full texts (click here)
The Metal Initiative Interview with Matías Quiroz about Bleak Flesh. Published on October 31, 2015. Full text (click here)