From the Bohemian revolt ’til the Swedish invasion of Germany we are cast down into the fields and furrows of the Thirty Years War of the seventeenth century, a point of profound decimation for central Europe and a muse for commentary on the ails and injustices of war by way of Bielefeld, Germany-borne death metal quintet SCALPTURE on this fourth and all-pro full-length album. Not only does this album find the group escaping the usual doldrums of World War-obsessed subject matter but ‘Landkrieg‘ also sources a path and purpose for the band beyond pure ‘old school’ worship, a fixation that’d been in the works for a couple of albums already. Here they strike upon adept fusion of brutality, ye olde tank-like roll, a hit of dramatic melodicism and a hardcorish directness that all syncs into several loud and at-times surreal strokes of interest. While it is primarily a pure death metal record at the end of the day these folks’ve put in work which entertains while eking out a sound which is increasingly their own odd-angled vision on this latest album.

Scalpture formed circa 2009 the way I suppose many German bands seem to form, a bit of drinking and musing between longtime friends and their immediate circle over death metal as guitarist Felix Marbach (ex-Evoked) envisioned his contribution to the war-obsessed tankcraft of Bolt Thrower, Dismember, Asphyx and this was around the time that Hail of Bullets had made their big entrance. In interviews Marbach makes it clear that the band’s formative releases (one demo and an EP) were just that, formative and not vital enough to revisit and I’ve no special access to these for precedence. So, the style of the band is clear enough in approach of ‘Panzerdoktrin‘ (2016) which is essentially a fifty/fifty split of HM-2 buzzing joggers and mid-paced Bolt Thrower inspired ideas, each side of the fence lending itself well to some melodic lead guitar work and stamping pieces. From that point their efforts have focused on moving away from the well-established signature(s) of their ‘old school’ death metal influences, seeking their own current.

Since I make a point to check out every F.D.A. Records release it surprised me that I’d missed out on not only the Fleshcrawl and Bodyfarm level booster shot of Scalpture‘s sophomore LP (‘Eisenzeit‘, 2020) as well as their somewhat more original follow-up ‘Feldwärts‘ in 2022. That second album vitally introduced some of the dramatic signature points that are now exaggerated here on ‘Landkrieg‘, starting with the bass guitar presence becoming more percussive and tensile in general with some of the harder-edged chunking pieces now taking on a slightly technical, sometimes hardcorish shade of interest. Of course in the grand scheme of death metal their oeuvre wasn’t anything that hadn’t been done before and their major purpose was always pure death metal yet songs like “Grabengott” sported a melodious, dramatic side of the band that’d kinda recalled Deserted Fear or Just Before Dawn to some degree. There are more of those moments on this new album, both the surprisingly adept bass guitar performances and melodic interest developed.

Since my own primary education involved extensive study of the first and second World Wars via brutally slow film documentaries and endless memorization of date-specific trivia the subject of (modern) European conflict puts me to sleep in every case… and despite Scalpture‘s lyrics being developed with some scholarly aptitudes in hand I’d no great interest in approaching their themes in the past. This time around they’ve taken an even more elaborate approach and struck back further in time to the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) to get to the root of the issue, the ruling class using religious schism to inspire a war of blatant opportunism and cruelty toward the folk of the land. Of course they’ve more to say but the major events of said war are presented as a linear span of time wherein each song is a benchmark of interest on the way through. It is a concept album without any major pretense beyond their own perspective angle, one of scrutiny for the auld game of war and a reminder of the (low) value of human life to the powers that bind.

To support this theme and the many destructive events that’d lead to ceasefire and a protracted period of intellectual enlightenment (literally the Age of Enlightenment) the tone of ‘Landkrieg‘ is harried as it is dramatic, bopping through a few entrenched points of ‘old school’ death metal fusion here and there but largely focused on lending a tragedian upswing to the full listen. We begin in a very different place than we’ll end up with consideration for the barreling mid-paced crush that kicks off Side A (“Into Catastrophe”, “Landsknecht“) and the oddball standout “Til Jeret Undergang” an initially hardcorish slow-stepping down stroked chunker which cranks the bite of the bass guitar tone to a springing, cutting bound and leans into a few thrashing fills along the way. The bassline on this song is a bone-wringing cable, a presence that’d been surreal and unexpected as I was ripping through the band’s discography hoping they’d do more with similar ideas on ‘Feldwärts‘. At the song’s heated point of prominence (~2:54 minutes in) it feels like they’ve set an obscure post-punk bop in front of a gang-shouted death metal rant beyond, an ear-catching moment at the very least.

While I’d found “Wallenstein” was a major standout for my own taste only the tail-end of the song is likely to generate much of a reaction in passing as the moshable, hardcorish brutality of the band is variously emphasized throughout the full listen. Most listeners will hit “Den Mörka Nattens Lejon” and find the sublime roll of Scalpture in full force via the “Immortal Rites” cum ‘World Demise‘-era Obituary heavy verve that highlights the song, another piece which places the bass guitar in a prime seat while experimenting with something like prog-death metal textures and movement/runs. It is the biggest, baddest groove on the record and a too-obvious standout on the run through. It feels like we hit a peak, a major spike of interest on the album right there yet the second half of ‘Landkrieg‘ still has more to do within the possibilities unlocked by the first half. In fact that high point keeps on rolling through the almost post-metal level of fixation found on “Of Siege and Besieged” right after.

Working with Marco Brinkmann @ Hellforge Studio (engineer/mix) and Lawrence Mackrory @ Rorysound Studios (mastering) for the third time yields another fine result, not the most dynamic sound considering all of the action coming from each member of Scalpture but a loud and forceful death metal register which roars from the start. Upon first listen I’d found it cluttered, noisome and unfitting for the increasingly intricate sound of the group but they’ve not lost the loud-and-pure feeling of death metal while still moving further away from the realm of HM-2 abuse. That said a kinda dry, quick-burning song like “Hells Choirs Chant” could just as well be a Fleshcrawl or Demonical joint out of context. Sound design does a lot for this album in terms of retaining some specificity folks will find directly related to the mania of ‘Feldwärts‘ but for my own taste the emphasis on the rhythm section’s voicing makes ‘Landkrieg‘ feel like a crucial album where the band’ve finally stuck a foot through a fresh portal and stepped into something closer to their own unique mind palace.

Though I’m not sure ‘Landkrieg‘ is going to be a shock to the system in terms of Scalpture‘s ongoing stylistic development it does manifest as a strong landmark, a point of impressive curation and design which has a number of compelling songs to back up the high production value of it all. Though I didn’t fully ‘get’ the reference of the glorious earthy mayhem en landscape via Eliran Kantor for the cover art it does a fine job of evoking the suggested period, a time of deep class division, tyrannical religious rule and opportunistic violence. I’d been torn between celebrating the more overt personae on tap throughout this album and wanting a bit more focus from the experience as a concept album telling a story, it is still a damned death metal record and not a wild bardic piece delving into extreme excesses beyond tradition. In the long run I’d found all of this a plus, a solid middle-ground where the riffcraft doesn’t always hit but the whole of ‘Landkrieg‘ entertains for how much it does so well. There were too many highlights throughout to deny these folks’ credit for continuing to escalate their craft into greater distinction. A high recommendation.

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