A Gruesome Salute to Death - Decibel Magazine

Hearing about Exhumed’s Matt Harvey joining forces with ex-Malevolent Creation drummer Gus Rio, Possessed guitarist Daniel Gonzalez and Derketa bassist Robin Mazen to form Gruesome, a band designed to be “basically a Death tribute band – as the County Medical Examiners are to Carcass, this pretty much is to Death” got me pretty excited. I must admit a mild tinge of disappointment when it was revealed that Harv and the gang wouldn’t be taking the thematic side of things to the same degree of clever ridiculousness as CME – someone pretending to be Chuck’s long-lost and previously unknown and silent twin brother might dance on the edge of blasphemy, but would definitely be easier to stomach than seeing the band playing shows decked out in the too-short shorts style of the 80s – but hearing the first track the quartet has made public has reversed that sentiment. The turning inside out of Death’s first two albums is in good hands here.
Below, a blurb from Harv about the band and song, its lyrics, the track itself and contact info. Enjoy, Death-heads.

“When Gus and I first started talking about doing this, I assumed it would be like most of band ideas, great in theory, but lazy in practice. I wrote a song, and kind of didn’t do anything with it for a few weeks. Then after I wrote “Savage Land,” the second song I came up with, it just sort of started clicking. Gus sent me the live drum track and I kind of realized this was gonna sound pretty damn kickass. From then on, it’s been a lot of fun putting these tracks together, drawing the logo and hearing what everyone has recorded to bring this stuff to life. This song was the turning point from ‘this is a cute idea’ to ‘this could actually be a pretty cool thing.’ Hopefully you enjoy it and feel the same. Musically – well, the band only has one influence, so you do the math, haha! Lyrically, I wanted to do a kind of “death by misadventure” track like “Left to Die” or “Torn To Pieces,” which were always a hallmark of the old school death metal days. Very Cannibal Ferox, I guess. Anyway, take it as it is, a bunch of death metal and specifically Death fans getting together to make some noise for your ears. Cheers!

If you care / want them for whatever, here are the lyrics. T.S. Eliot better watch his ass!
Isolated primitives
Brutal way of life they live
Ritual of sacrifice
Victims are consumed alive

Uncivilized, a distant land
Untouched by ways, of modern man
Tie you down, and make you bleed
Upon your bones, they soon will feed

Savage land of brutal gore
Never should have been explored
As your limbs they carve and hack
You know you’re never coming back
Savage land, where you will die
Never understanding why
Headhunter sharpens his knife
Drawing near to take your fucking life

Their ways, best left undisturbed
Your tortured cries, will go unheard

Guitar solo – 1 Dan
Guitar solo – 2 Gus

Tied and bound to bloody stakes
Death and life, is theirs take
What means so much to you and me
They destroy so easily

Uncivilized, a distant land
Untouched by ways, of modern man
Tie you down, and make you bleed
Upon your bones, they soon will feed

Harv