Documenting rapid changeling growth in the grip of isolated torsion the quick-paced fluidity of Lappeenranta, Finland-based death metal quartet SCYTHROW has developed with some uncertainty thus far, hyper-evolving from beginner-level ambitions toward well-studied current underground death metal standards in the space of just a few years. This makes their third full-length album both a change for the better but also a not yet fully developed spectacle, another try at a new thing rather than an earned place in the minds of the average death metal obsessive. That said an album like ‘Blameless Severed Extremities‘ should earn some quick fandom for its balance achieved between ‘old school’ inspired depth and quicker cut, chunking ‘new old school’ death metal with a brutal edge. If we can consider it their first, or at least most seriously developed step into the underground then it is a fine introduction worth iterating upon.

Scythrow formed circa 2020 as part of a boon of activity from the mostly teenaged folks involved who where likely keeping busy during the pandemic years with their attempts at a melodic thrash metal record to start. I’m not going to get too deep into their first two full-length albums because they kinda suck, programmed drums and halfway-there vocals, all of it smacks of bedroom-level recordings and technology put to uninteresting use (re: AI generated album art, etc.) The only point of interest to note in the walk up to their latest LP is the exit and then return of vocalist/guitarist Markus Erling who’d provided clean vocals on their first record, left, then came back as their growler in 2023 after the band had switched to a death metal focus. Their ‘Envy is the Filth of the Soul‘ (2023) EP showcased this new style well, a modern “new old school” take with a fairly brutal approach thanks to the drum recording kinda pinging hard. ‘Blameless Severed Extremities‘ more-or-less delivers upon the promise of that EP but tempers some of its chaotic energy for the sake of a few mid-tempo songs with moshable breaks and bopping movement (see: “Necrotic High”.)

The development, songcraft, production values and of course guitar duties for Scythrow appear to center around the evolution of works envisioned by Arttu Muukkonen alongside (likely) co-founder Nuutti Myllynen who is credited with some of their artwork/layout and production work. The shift from a sort of alt-metal tinged version of thrash metal toward the current necrotized, insular style of death metal popular in the underground today seems genuine enough in terms of tastes/intent shifting quickly beyond weenie metal. So, with this in mind we can consider ‘Blameless Severed Extremities‘ as a debut album in most every sense as their interests line-up with both classic death metal and the more moshable hardcore-inflected stuff out of the United States these days (re: “Nerve Rot“) which places them in mind next to bands like Cryptic Hatred and Disguised Malignance in the sense that their approach is pretty brutal, leans into the mosh shit here and there, but still resembles something ‘old school’ inspired. They’re not exploding with riff ideas or writing complex songs in any sense but you’ll get the effect of opener “Reluctant Possession” as an approximation of the nuts and bolts of pure death metal xeroxed for effect.

There are a few pieces on ‘Blameless Severed Extremities‘ show a ton of promise in terms of the guitarists keeping on their toes, the drummer developing various tricks of brutality beyond their drum machine years, and finding big grooves to entertain death metal dummies with. “Kinemortophobia” throws as much as it can at the listener and in the process reminds me of the outwardly brutal side of circa ’94 Midwest death metal, bands with more modest production and without many valuable leads to throw around. “Blameless Severed Extremities” likewise changes it up just enough to keep things moving with its kinda Autopsy-aped doomed final third and spongey bass guitar tone pulling the song into focus. The drum sound on this recording kind of artificial and weak overall compared to the previous EP so some brutality is lost to a thudding kick and overall I’d say the slower these guys go at it the more their impact makes room for the riff. To compound this point closer “The Fatal Point of Closure” offers another major high point as one of the most involved and lengthier songs on the full listen which keeps the gore level high but finds some dramatic mid-paced action to play the record out with.

Most of ‘Blameless Severed Extremities‘ follows a simple enough formula in that they throw out two or three decent riffs before leaning into a groove metallic breakdown before maybe including one more refrain back toward the main riff. There isn’t anything particularly athletic, memorable, or all that thrilling about those simpler pieces as they provide the body of this record beyond its more developed pieces. The fact that they close out the CD with a Mortician cover (“Chainsaw Dismemberment”) might already say enough in this regard as we consider their interest in the current slop n’ chug metal zeitgeist but I wouldn’t say that their efforts are either fully rote or unimaginative, only that it is obvious that some songs received far more care than others in their development.

It remains to be seen if this style of death metal will be the major focus of what Scythrow land upon in the grand scheme of things but I’d say for having focused on this approach for just a few years now they’re doing a fine enough job of it. While developing a signature takes years of iteration or, at least some manner of notable breakthrough here it definitely feels like these folks are still growing at a rapid pace, evolving in real time throughout the course of this third album which, again, pretty much feels like a proper debut considering the full shift in style herein. For my own taste the result is only just above-average all things considered but as I said there are very clear and bright sparks of insight and effort which are palpable enough that I see some great promise if they hammer down upon more substantive craft. A moderately high recommendation.

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