I somehow missed the 2011 debut by Oslo's Beaten to Death – featuring members of Tsjuder, Insense and She Said Destroy – but I can safely rule out Dødsfest! as a sophomore slump without even bothering to backtrack and catch up on Xes and Strokes.
There are a lot of damn influences packed into the roughly 20-minute run time here, everything from omnipresent grind to Mr. Bungle/Spazztic Blurr levels of seasick, shifting velocity, and even a bit of Nomeansno bass-heavy prog punk. It's a potent mix, the melodic tracks ("Døv, Døvere, Død", "True Internet Metal Warrior") providing welcome counterpoint to the more unhinged slapstick grind collated throughout ("Nazi Slippers", "Vulpes Vulpes, Mustela Lutreola, Praedium").
No one track adheres strictly to one genre or style, but Beaten to Death have the good sense to anchor most songs in one dynamic or the other – spastic thrash or lilting melody – and color outside the lines from there. Most bands that mix-and-match styles want to throw everything in their repertoire into each individual song, which usually results in a directionless mess which is best admired for its intent rather than its execution.
Beaten to Death sidestep this criticism with actual songs rather than mere genre-blending experiments. The energy level is consistently through the roof from start to finish, however, so Dødsfest!'s 20-minute grind-esque running time is just the right dose. You can stream the entirety courtesy of Metal Hammer magazine here.
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