Menschwalsch - Verdelgh & Heersch

Remember the good ol’ days of death metal? Death, Dismember, Morbid Angel etc but also a few lesser known bands like Authorize, Cancer. Yes, we have a modern version of that in The Netherlands in the form of Menschwalsch. They’ve been stuck in Friesland since 2016 and in that year they’ve released a demo ‘Demo 2016’. In February 2020 they released their first full length ‘Verdelgh & Heersch’ on the quite new label Vidar Records.

 

Old school death metal, that is the topic of ‘Verdelgh & Heersch’. From the first second, you hear that Menschwalsch has got a lot of experience. It isn’t your run of the mill start-up band that produces bad quality music. No, this is an experienced band right in your face. With influences in the death/doom and grind scene, this album will feature some glimpse of those genres.

 

But for the most part you will receive mid-tempo death metal. A very accessible death metal which will suit the old death metal fans from every single age. However there are some elements in ‘Verdelgh & Heersch’ that will surprise you but not annoy you. In the first song (which is also the title-track) ‘Verdelgh & Heersch’ you will hear a bit of grindcore-ish vocals that could’ve surprised me however, it really fits this type of death metal. You wouldn’t do that correctly if you didn’t have a lot of experience like Melschwalsch. 

 

Travelling through the album, you will encounter probably the biggest surprise and that is the pig-squeal. It took me by surprise and I needed to get used to but it does fit the music well. 

To be honest, it is quite bold to add an instrumental song in your debut album. However after a few songs of just straight forward death metal, it is soothing to take a break with a melodic solo-ish song called ‘De Verhevenen’. 

 

After that, you will get picked up and thrown back into the Morbid Angel-like death metal that we all love and adore. What I also like to point out is the great use of ambient sounds throughout the album. They don’t get used that much but when Menschwalsch uses them, they fit in exactly in the right place. But then it hit me, some backing-vocals really remind me of Dave Suzuki from Vital Remains. Musically wise not their biggest influence however the vocals of Dave Suzuki do a comparison for me right here.

 

Coming to a conclusion, I can hear that Menschwalsch could be doing good things in the Dutch metal-scene if they make the right choices with their next release. Choosing the right label, choosing the right producer. For now ‘Verdelgh & Heersch’ is an excellent first album which could be a good first jump towards maybe a contract with Dark Descent or the Dutch label Vic-Records or Raw Skull Records. Menschwalsch would fit with every of those labels in my opinion if they make the right choices.