BONES "Diseased"

BONES

"Diseased"

After a long layoff that had me wondering if the band still existed, Chicago's BONES returns to action with some raw and crusty death metal done in Windy City style. All of the members have current or previous connections to USURPER and in a lot of ways, BONES is more like USURPER than USURPER themselves are. USURPER's comeback album "Lords of the Permafrost" was a fairly monotonous plod with a lot of clean production. "Diseased" more than lives up to its name and assaults the senses with a vicious crusty assault that has a strong odor of punk and grind to it.

Imagine old USURPER ("Skeletal Season" era) mixed with AUTOPSY and even REPULSION and you have "Diseased". "Blood, Diarrhea and Tears" attacks with a tidal wave of raw guitar and battering ram drums, with lusty roars and shouts along for the ride. The punk influence really becomes noticeable on short, ragged tracks like "No One Matters", "Boozer" and "Crucifier". The slightly more epic and death metal side is ably covered on "Carrion Crows", "Stench of the Deceased" and "The Future Is Now". On "Broken Wheel", they try for something slower and rootsier but it doesn't really work that well.

This is a great example of the filthy death metal that Chicago has always been known for. Think of CIANIDE and CARDIAC ARREST as well. BONES fits very well with that tradition and I sure hope we don't have to wait 4 years for the follow-up this time.

TRANSCENDING OBSCURITY

BONES