Beaten To Death – Vntrve Album Review

Upon opening the email from Jai that contained the Dropbox link for this review, I noted that in his summary was a sentence I couldn’t ignore:

“These guys definitely don’t seem interested in playing grindcore by the usual rules.”

With my curiosity piqued, I decided to look through the tracklist as well as the promo photos attached, and I found something quite surprising that immediately solidified that sentiment.

A picture of the album artwork.

It is a brightly coloured design featuring two colossal flamingos that instantly grab your attention. Definitely not something that you’d normally associate with the grindcore genre.

Another thing that sticks out as being noteworthy is the name of the album itself. Vntrve could possibly be a tongue in cheek nod to the “trve kvlt” moniker usually associated with traditional black metal based around Norway, and considering that is where this band hails from, it may not be that much of a stretch.

Now, let’s get into the music!

“Slosspit”

The album opens with “Slosspit”, which I believed was a combination of the words “sloshed” (meaning drunk) and “moshpit”. I can’t say for certain since the lyrics seem to be in Norwegian, delivered in the form of a freestyle rap by Joddski, who is featured on this track.

From the moment that I hit play, I was smacked in the face by an energy that reminded me of “Y’all Want A Single?” by Korn mixed with the overall attitude of Attila.

This is one I keep coming back to because it delivers on every level with a variety of riffs that could fit in a bunch of different genres such as metalcore, thrash and hardcore respectively. Plus, the contrast between the two vocal styles towards the end of the song really nails the point home that these guys are not a “traditional” grindcore band.

As much as I keep harping on about traditions being broken, there are some that remain throughout the album, such as the short song lengths, chaotic blast beats, evil guttural vocals and, finally, the name of the band itself: Beaten To Death.

“Fear Of Being Included”

Up next is “Fear Of Being Included”, which is something I can relate to on a personal level.

This is where the band returns to those grindcore roots as it begins with a cymbal stab that will make Cannibal Corpse fans feel right at home. What follows is a wall of sound that is reminiscent of Dr. Acula.

This is broken up by a somewhat polka inspired section at 0:32 that sounds like it was pulled from “B.Y.O.B.” by System Of A Down.

If there was ever a more perfect example of organised chaos, this would be it.

“Electrocuted By The Sky”

There is no mercy as the next track, “Electrocuted By The Sky”, starts immediately after, which left me barely any time to comprehend what I’d just heard.

This track begins by bringing the 2008 metalcore vibes hard, with emotionally charged vocals accompanied by a punk drum beat and guitar riffs that resemble the backing vocal melody from “The Distance” by Cake.

For some reason, I was reminded of “The Final Episode” by Asking Alexandria upon hearing the song for the first time.

However, just 22 seconds into the song, all that is tossed aside in favour of a headbanging inducing breakdown with a subtle, possibly unintentional, nod to “Chop Suey!” by System Of A Down in terms of the guitar parts.

“Eyeless” by Slipknot is all that comes to mind at 0:40 due to the similar energy of this section, which is filled with screams of “Electrocuted By The Sky!” and aggressive chugging alongside enough double bass drumming to make you want to violently dropkick someone.

The lead up to the conclusion of this track throws a major unexpected curveball in the form of audibly transporting you to the centre of an Indian bazaar.

What follows is what I would call a “reggaeton” beat (think “Suffocate” by Knocked Loose feat. Poppy) with a recall to the chorus. An abrupt outro breakdown akin to early Suicide Silence signals the end of one rollercoaster of a song.

“Fångad i en Battle Vest”

“Fångad i en Battle Vest”, which roughly translates to “Trapped in a Battle Vest” or “Caught in a Battle Vest”, is the first of two tracks with a title written in another language and serves as the fourth entry on the album.

Beginning with a ruthless intro that reminded me of “Hester Prynne” by As Blood Runs Black and “Knee Deep” by Job For A Cowboy respectively, this song literally blasts into your ears without warning.

Switching things up not long after with a wall of guitar sounds that resemble flatlining EKG machines and drums that alternate between breakbeat shuffles and samba grooves, before returning to form by continuing to blast away the remainder of my eardrums.

At 0:43, a dramatic change in vocal style occurs with a high scream that also changes the course of the song, delving into what I would describe as “thrash ballad” territory as the guitars harmonise alongside lyrics that sound like an ode to a fallen battle vest.

The blasts return one last time before calls of “Battle Vest rise!” are cried out in varying styles with a couple of brutal pig squeals thrown in for good measure.

Like any good “fight riff”, the chant of “Battle Vest rise!” is slowed down to an almost beatdown like tempo to round out this track.

“The Tolerator”

“The Tolerator” can be summed up as a nod to all things death metal.

However, it takes quite the unexpected turn halfway through the track as it drops the heaviness for a somewhat softer approach.

After delivering the line of “I can tolerate fucking anything!”, all the rules go out the window as an insane section of what I would call “death jazz” breaks out with a roar of smooth saxophone goodness combined with crushing blast beats.

This is what “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty would sound like on steroids.

“Scroll On, Homeboy”

My first thought when reading the title of the next track, “Scroll On, Homeboy”, was:

“This seems like a nod to ‘Walk’ by Pantera.”

As the iconic line states, “Walk on home, boy”, and much to my surprise, both choruses from each song share some similarities, especially the callout of “RE! SPECT!”.

Upon further research, it turns out that this whole song is supposed to be a parody that imagines Phil Anselmo, Pantera vocalist, during the age of social media.

The names of a few Pantera songs make up a good chunk of the lyrics, and I now have a deeper appreciation for this track.

I also can’t ignore the fact that the ending line is “Is there no standard anymore?”

Weird Al Yankovic should take notes because THIS is how you write a parody song.

Absolutely brilliant.

“Sunburnt Satanist”

The intro to the next track, “Sunburnt Satanist”, has no business working as well as it does, considering it sounds like a mixture of death metal, funk and something that should be on the soundtrack of JSRF (Jet Set Radio Future).

The only apt description is bonkers, but in the best way.

Given the name of the track, I shouldn’t be surprised that the vocals immediately drew comparisons to Cradle Of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, but there was one that even I didn’t expect myself to make.

On a second listen, I could hear “Skin Coffin” by Psycroptic in there also.

In yet another display of defying traditional grindcore tropes, the majority of the riffs in this song sound like they were inspired by early Parkway Drive, which prompted feelings of nostalgia.

Those feelings were short lived though, as the track descended back into the “death funk” fusion madness showcased in the intro.

“Fuck The Moon”

Every once in a while I come across a track that leaves me almost speechless, and “Fuck The Moon” is one such example.

Now, my intention here is to not be offensive, but it sounds like a cringey band that takes themselves too seriously trying to be cringey, if that makes sense.

It also sounds like the soundtrack to a pirated version of Castlevania.

Again, I’m not trying to be offensive, but I feel like it’d be more offensive if I wasn’t being 100% honest.

“(Du er verken Jesus eller Buddha) Du er Ugmod”

“(Du er verken Jesus eller Buddha) Du er Ugmod” is the second track title written in another language and translates to “(You are neither Jesus nor Buddha) You are Ugmod”, which relates to the PC game Garry’s Mod, or GMod.

After some research, I found out that this song makes fun of toxic PC gamers and, more specifically, those found within GMod.

Musically speaking, the track starts off with a melodic intro while guttural vocals deliver the opening lines.

Shortly after, the track descends into a mix of grindcore and thrash mayhem with a section resembling hardcore as two members trade off vocals.

An element that caught me off guard was the surprising addition of spoken word towards the latter half of the song.

It is truly astounding how this band merges almost every conceivable genre possible with grindcore.

“My Dying Little Pony”

After experiencing some technical difficulties moving the album files onto my phone so I could listen to it while doing some gardening, “My Dying Little Pony” unintentionally ended up being the second song that I listened to.

There were no complaints, however, as it provided some much needed joy in the face of such a tedious task.

I couldn’t help but be reminded of the band Dehumanising Itatrain Worship, as it had the same chaotic, anime/pop culture fuelled energy.

I believe there’d be a lot more “bronies” out there if this were the actual theme song for the show My Little Pony.

This one was stuck in my head due to the catchy polka like section and delivery of the closing lyrics.

“Momento Sugo”

As I read the title of track 11, “Momento Sugo”, I realised that I made an error in my previous statements as there are, in fact, three track names on this album written in a foreign language.

This title translates to either “Remember, I suck” or “Remember to suck”, which is apparently a play on the Latin phrase “Respice post te / Hominem te memento”.

When translated into English, this reads:

“Look behind you. Remember you are only a man.”

The Latin version of this phrase is used as lyrics in this song.

Moreover, there are lyrics in Norwegian, “Husk at du er en dust”, that translate to “Remember that you are an idiot/fool”, used in this song also.

Google comes in handy sometimes!

A PSA should be considered regarding the opening of this song as it begins with a long and loud guitar drone that almost ruptured my eardrums.

Heads up, headphone users!

What follows is a short, fast and aggressive track that likens itself to be compared with “You Suffer” by Napalm Death.

“Satan Spawn, The K-Pop Demon”

“Satan Spawn, The K-Pop Demon”, a title that originally had me thinking that it was a song made to make fun of K-Pop Demon Hunters, but alas, I was wrong.

According to the English section of the lyrics, it is actually about Minecraft and the popular PvP mode “BedWars”, with references to ranks (“Pig triple + rank”), scammers (“Lots of scammers here”) and gameplay strategies (“Bed burrow/block-in”), to name a few.

I would like to think that I would get along with these guys as they are also gamers who like making brutal music, much like myself.

Once again, I am reminded of “Skin Coffin” by Psycroptic during the intro section of this song and of “Hammer Smashed Face” by Cannibal Corpse in the section that follows.

The English lyrical section is where things switch up as the song transitions into a mix of a bouncy groove and a downtempo breakdown bordering into beatdown territory.

Closing out the track is an absolutely chaotic section with a rapid fire vocal delivery that immediately made me think of the ending to “What’s Up, People?!” by Maximum The Hormone.

“Vntrve”

Last but certainly not least is the final track, “Vntrve”, which boasts the longest running time of the album at 4:02.

This is the musical culmination of everything this album is trying to convey. From the blending of various genres to lyrics poking fun at the seriousness of black metal culture, this track is the perfect fit to bear the same name as the album as it truly encompasses the very meaning behind the word “Vntrve”.

I have to preface this next paragraph with a huge:

SPOILER ALERT

I was genuinely blown away the first time I heard the ending of this track as I was lured into a false sense of security for a minute and a half, just enjoying the clashing worlds of fun and brutality.

ENTER THE SAXOPHONE!

I was left in awe with nothing but respect and a whole load of questions.

For example:

“How does this work so well?”

“Who ever would have thought to do this?”

And finally:

“Who knew Kenny G was into metal?”

There is a level of shredding on display that can only be measured in terms of how fitting it would be as the soundtrack for an epic fight scene on an ’80s cartoon show.

He-Man vs Skeletor came to mind.

Final Thoughts

On that note, all I can say with the utmost gratitude is thank you.

Thank you to the band, Beaten To Death, for showing that grindcore music doesn’t always have to be solely focused on the grind to be brutal.

And thank you to Jai for showing me yet another awesome band that I never would have found on my own and that shall remain in my rotation alongside the others so far.

As always, Stay Metal! \m/

Manny “The Metal Man” Bath

Beaten to Death are:
Anders Bakke – Vocals
Martin Rygge – Guitar/Backing Vocals
Tommy Hjelm – Guitar/Backing Vocals
Christian “Bartender” Svendsen – Drums

Links:
Beaten To Death
www.beatentodeath.net
www.facebook.com/beatentodeath
https://www.instagram.com/beatentodeath
https://beatentodeath.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/@beatentodeathnet