Dismember are lumped in geographically with In Flames, At the Gates, etc. as NWOSDM bands. What Iron Crosses proves, though, is that they have greater longevity in them than those bands. In Flames doesn't really exist stylistically as death metal anymore and At the Gates, well, just doesn't exist. Dismember may not be the most original band, but they keep delivering brutal lyrics and dense guitar riffs aplenty. Their newest album is similar to the ones before it, and that's a compliment. If you like brutal death metal, you will like this album. The only question to ask yourself is how fast you like it. Dismember rarely gets up to the speed of, say, Suffocation, but they do move a little quicker on this CD than others they've done, most notably Massimum Killing Capacity. Some fans think that's the high-water mark for this band; others call it derivitave garbage and prefer the band's Death Metal or Indecent & Obscene, which move along at a brisker pace. This CD tends to be a mixture of the 2 styles: the first 2 songs are the quickest, the rest, especially "Me-God", lurch like a drunk rhinoceros. That's the only difference between merely liking Iron Crosses or loving it, the speed preference. The songs all demonstrate Dismember's greatest attribute--the ability to flex gargantuan riffs. The guitars are up front and down-tuned to maximize their brutality. The production is sweet. It may not be the second coming of death metal, but Dismember have put out another solid set of heavy songs to rape your eardrums over. Plus, the cover illustration has a meat monster impaling dwellers of some abstract city. Cool. Bash your brains in.
