Some may remember us speaking about an up-and-coming Italian death metal band Kaivs last year when we reviewed their EP Horrend, and having an in-depth conversation with the band to boot. The quartet showed plenty of promise in said first release, encapsulating an unfiltered celebration of death metal’s fundamentals. Since then, we’ve been curious as to what they may put together for their debut full-length. Wait no longer, as the deathly horde has bestowed After the Flesh on our rotting ears.
The tried-and-true raging Dismember-esque chainsaw tone is revved up, with the band cutting down whatever hapless object that may be obstructing their path. “Koshercannibal” buzzes forth with a shredding riff that calls back that 90s Stockholm sound incessantly. The track pulsates with intent, maliciousness, and a direct, pacey trajectory. “Beyond the Autopsy” continues the frenzy, opting for a briefly slower start before ramping up into grimy, determined roars via vocalist Max Foam’s gritty, coarse voicings and axe wielder Tiziano Mortician’s wailing rhythms, finishing with a death/doom pacing that’s ominous and definitive.
Cuts such as “ For Satan Your Flesh for God Your Soul” ruminate in an Entombed-inspired groove, highlighted by drummer Leonardo Sastro’s and bassist Jacopo Simonelli’s coordinated low end pummeling, and Foam’s commanding groan. The influx of the HM-2 tonality is the focal point of Kaivs’ sonic projection, rending the hapless listener gnarled and disoriented, riff after riff.
The second half of After the Flesh mainly contains re-workings of the three songs contained on the band’s Horrend EP. The fuzzy, churning “Krushing All Altars” – Mortal Kombat anyone? – resides as one of the most distorted offerings on After the Flesh, whilst “Sepulchrist” adds an ironic quotation of a bible verse about eternal life before unleashing a rumbling, ominous Entrails-meets-doom sort of mashup that was the highlight of said EP, with this recording adding significant presence in comparison to the original. “Blasphemer After the Flesh” coordinates proceedings back to a feverish forward romp before signing off via the similarly fervent “Horrend.”
The production is louder and more robust than the EP, with a molasses-thick, grinding, volatile sound profile that fits their highly specific sound profile. An improvement would be for the drums to be a little less washed out and prominent, as they could add additional heft and dynamism if more discernible from the rest. Visually, the artwork by Juanjo Castellano screams a Like an Ever Flowing Stream influence, but in a horrific cave setting, giving a matching aesthetic to the band’s vehement sound.
Kaivs’ heart definitively resides in the early 90s scene, and After the Flesh is a solid homage to that most classic of death metal sounds that no doubt will have influence over the genre forever. What would make the record resonate even more would be if the band leaned into their more spacious, death/doom side to add additional variance to their dense, meaty outputs. More of that and some production tweaks could really see Kaivs make a statement within the now very crowded death metal landscape. For now, After the Flesh is an album that shows a band that has the chops, gnarly riffs, and instrumental talent in spades that know how to tear limb-from-limb by way of the truest of time-honored death metal paradigms. In our book, there’s nothing wrong with that.