Set as a devourer no longer lurking in wait Cali, Colombia-based death metal quintet FLAGELO present themselves as a many-headed beast capable of broad-set gesticulation and imposing uproar on this debut EP. Previously a digital only independent release the surprisingly lucid flow through ‘Insaciable‘ now finds broader reach through physical editions today, offering myriad points of modern atmospheric death interest which range from bestially grinding trod to dramatic post-death wiles with doomed interest set at every juncture. Though this first release merely provides gestural blueprint for their intent this doesn’t zero out the entertaining roll through this at times unpredictable thread.

Flagelo began to mould their diabolic shape back in 2022 via troops recruited from their local scenery including folks carrying associations with death metal (Gutgrinder), black/thrash (Total Night Terror) and extreme sludge (Mico) institutions. Rather than create plainest havoc with such a large crew their work resembles a carefully threaded, conglomerated vision broadly inspired by the last decade or so of extreme metal. This means their action includes tempered dissonance, bestially struck traits, and atmospheric doom metal shaping all in service to an at-times unpredictable miasmic flow through this EP’s ~24 minute run. The core if their efforts builds upon primarily death metal adjacent voicing and that is how I’d describe their work despite the broad ouevre served.

Title track/opener “Insaciable” is the first tear through the viscera, an initially slow-grinding atmospheric death crawl given to bestial interruption a la Black Curse and a sludged through trample to complete its arc. While it isn’t an outrageous compositional feat in its own right this first song is the one of three which carve a face for Flagelo whose expression initially appears unpredictable. The next moment we’ve a sort of grinding and chugging ‘new old school’ death metal style trip-stepped bop in “Viral” before “Rey de Nada” shores things up into dramatic blackened and doomed death metal furor. Multiple vocal layers/voices interject as tension builds and eventually kicks out on the run through this song in a style which fans of mid-paced deathgrind and dissonant death should appreciate. Beyond considerate for the trip through many nodes of sub-genre I’d appreciated the cavernous and imposing drop through those first three songs where the effect is arguably more impressive than the actual compositions.

Where I’d felt the value of this EP largely manifested comes with the duo of “Historia Animal” and “Eslabon” wherein the former develops a quasi death/doom metal arc with dissonant drainage and the latter develops something more Ulcerate-aligned in its thundering post-metal tampered movements. Each of these songs acts as their own third of the release per their length and in my case were vital to the lasting impression left by Flagelo‘s material. Of course elements of post-music/sludge atmosphere and bestial death metal aren’t perfect strangers when it comes to producing gestures over death metal’s requisite density of riffcraft and that will leave folks seeking more traditional forms sifting through the murk here though I’d suggest “Eslabon” is the sort of payoff at the end of the tunnel, a grand mountain point of death that’d capped things off and spurned on a few extra listens on my part.

The amorphous strand revealed within ‘Insaciable‘ is without a doubt monstrous, imposing enough to create an entertaining spectacle on-record and in this sense a case for a smeared about ouevre is successfully made tough I can’t say that every element here does more than check a box before moving on. The appeal of what Flagelo have put together is clear enough though I think a more compelling case is made on the second half of the EP compared to some of the quickly referential ideas found on say, “Viral”. With that said checking all of those boxes does create the sensation of variety, of a trip through their grotesque meld of blackened death with elements of grind, sludge and doom. I figure the appropriate response is the desire to hear more, that it is clear they’re building something experiential and appreciably atmospheric from these parts presented thus far. A moderately high recommendation.

---