Band's List Progressive Death Bearstorm Horribilis

Most of us have already figured out by now that the genre "Progressive Death Metal" is a bit overused and tarnished. Many bands rush in the wagon, from Opeth to Pan.Thy.Monium, there is an overwhelming array of such different sounding bands it doesn't make sense any longer.

Bearstorm are therefore no exception and if I may say so, I have a much fitting description for their music than the overworked “Progressive Death Metal”. As far as I can tell, Bearstorm use many different elements in their Death Metal, be it in the various Post-Rock elements (the long violin part in ‘Ripped to Shreds' reminiscent of constellated Canadian icons GY!BE or Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen), Doom Death, sometimes hints at Black Metal but more predominantly a distinctive Stoner Rock feel.

Stoner Death Metal? Why the hell not, bands like Acid Witch or Ilsa have helped blurred the boundaries already and these days nothing can ever surprise me. The main difference though with the two aforementioned bands is basically that their music is a hell of a lot catchier than Bearstorm’s. Not that it would make Horribilis such a bad record, but the Americans explore vistas that are far more introspective.

Try to picture a sort of hybrid chimera between bands like Acrimony or Kyuss with any given old-school Death Metal band, and the results would probably give you Bearstorm. Still, alchemy is a long process and there are also some more, obscure or not influences. There is some folk feel thanks to the “alien” instruments, we noted earlier the presence of violin, but the ‘outro’ to the opening track 'Flight of the Blasphemer' with their lost-in-the-fog bagpipes could remind you of bands like Danish Sol.

The main quality of Bearstorm’s resides in the fact that they do not forget their Death Metal along the way. It’s not just a pretext to cover a bad singer it’s the real intent. These guys do play Death Metal, and the structures of the songs, which might make one think of “Progressive”, often seem to lead you astray but a well-thought acceleration and more conventional part will bring you back to the realms of the Metal of Death. It’s just circumvallated to such an extent that they may well surprise any given listener. The way they approach their music is very much similar to that of The Living Fields except that with Bearstorm there's no questioning their allegiance to one particular style and that style is Death Metal.

All in all, Horribilis features four fantastic tracks that have their fair share of musicality and are highly original. Yet, despite the “high originality” factor, the music remains accessible and if you have a taste (most likely acquired) for something different, then chances are you'll soon find yourself playing this EP over and over. And guess what, if you’re interested in discovering this guys’ peculiar flavor of Death Metal, the whole EP is available for legal download on their Bandcamp page. Go for it. Be impressed.