Dehumanized - Beyond The Mind (2016)

Hailing from New York, Beyond The Mind represents the second offering from this brutal death metal quartet (though it's technically their third album) since they reuinted in '12 with Controlled Elite. The listener can expect a powerfully chunky dose of groove-laden death metal here, which never lets up. These guys don't use voice clips or synthesizers or ambient pieces or electronics. They may reach into breakdowns, but the inhuman bear-growl of Lead vocalist Mike Centrose (Through The Discipline) and drummer/vocalist George Torres (Artery Eruption) are the perfect vocal embodiment for such utterances, and on a breakdown heavy piece like “Drawn By Blood” it even works to remind me a little of Dying Fetus. Now the production value here is a little high and it doesn't sound quite as warm as other death metal discs, but it still manages to deliver up some of what I'd consider to still to be a piping hot and ready New York pie (that's pizza for the rest of us) with your favorite toppings. As long as those topping consist of guts, gravel and grotesquerie – and that crust is filled to the brim with absolutely crushing riff matter courtesy of longtime guitarist Rich Nagasawa. By the way, Nagasawa hasn't forgotten about lovers of weird progressive landscapes, because they certainly do work their way into this chunky mound of dough, cheese and brain matter. Even the artwork for the piece looks sort of metaphysical, and you'd think it was a bit brainier than it is from seeing it at the record store. But that's fine, because it is still quite cognitive. Just not in the vain that you would expect.

Dehumanized aren't about to pull the plug on their brutality here, so if you're worried by this “new age” kind of cover adornment, don't worry. This record is still going to tear you apart, just as the band's previous discs have been known to do. The imminent bass poundings that one will experience from Anthony Cossu serve as the majority of that crust, and this recording allows you the favor of eating the crust first. It's a great atmosphere – an absolute sea of slightly brainy brutality that I don't think I could help but to recommend. There's nothing better than a New York pizza pie, and Beyond The Mind is a fine example of that in a musical form. It's piled on with toppings, piping hot and ready to go – I don't think you can get much better than this. Grab the disc and a pizza while you're at it. I'm pretty sure that by the end of reading this review, you'll want to get a supreme with entrails and all. Just as these guys would've wanted.

(10 Tracks, 40:00)

8/10