Angry Metal Guy<p><a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/fleshspoil-the-beginning-of-the-end-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Fleshspoil – The Beginning of the End Review</a></p><p><i>By Tyme</i></p><p><span>Troy, New York’s </span><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span>, may be new to the NYC metal scene,<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/fleshspoil-the-beginning-of-the-end-review/#fn-213519-1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">1</a> but its constituent members certainly are not. Vocalist and guitarist Jeff Andrews (</span><strong><span>The Final Sleep</span></strong><span>, </span><strong><span>Armor Column</span></strong><span>) and drummer Mike Van Dyne (</span><strong><span>The Final Sleep</span></strong><span>, ex-</span><a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/arsis-visitant-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><strong><span>Arsis</span></strong></a><span>) have joined forces with Bay Area bassist Dan Saltzman (</span><strong><span>Illucinus</span></strong><span>) to wade into the crowded waters of the blackened death metal pool with their self-released debut album, </span><em><span>The Beginning of the End</span></em><span>. I wondered what </span><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span> had in store, mainly what Andrews and Van Dyne, given their pedigree, would do to set themselves apart in a genre rife with stiff competition. Would this trio assemble and make The Empire City proud with </span><em><span>The Beginning of the End</span></em><span>, or, as their moniker might suggest, would they just plain stink?</span></p><p><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span> tosses progressive atmospherics, dashes of doom, darts of dissonance, and even some metalcore peppercorns into its death metal pot. With as much elusive consistency as </span><strong><span>The Final Sleep</span></strong><span>‘s </span><a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/the-final-sleep-vessels-of-grief-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><em><span>Vessels of Grief</span></em></a><span>, Andrews and Van Dyne have crafted another, albeit deathlier, sonic buffet. Representing a winding path of genres, </span><em><span>The Beginning of the End</span></em><span> sees crushing, </span><strong><span>Immolation</span></strong><span>-esque death metal mix with atmospheric lap-steel guitar and drum interludes (“Bleed Through This Life”) and softer, near post-metal riffs merge into </span><strong><span>Bleeding Through</span></strong><span>-like metalcore replete with shimmery clean choruses before ceding direction to a dissonantly black end (“Skies Turn to Graves”). Andrews’ ten tons of riffage serve the material well, and trading his mostly clean vocal delivery ala </span><strong><span>The Final Sleep</span></strong><span> for deathlier growls, shouts, and shrieks is a point in </span><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span>‘s favor. Saltzman’s reserved bass work, a departure from the brutal death slams of his day job, combined with Van Dyne’s expert drumming, has no problem corralling all of </span><em><span>The Beginning of the End</span></em><span>‘s competing directions. </span><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span> certainly isn’t afraid to stretch the boundaries of what’s possible, and when it works, it’s good, but it doesn’t </span><em><span>always</span></em><span> work.</span></p><p></p><p><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span> is at its best when weaving the apocalypse of their death metal with dissonance, melodicism, and progressive atmospheres. These elements are alive and well in the aforementioned “Bleed Through This Life,” which also contains some chaotic solo work courtesy of Kyle Chapman (</span><strong><span>Aethereus</span></strong><span>).<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/fleshspoil-the-beginning-of-the-end-review/#fn-213519-2" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">2</a> Further success lies in the disso-chords and quirky time signatures of eponymous track “Fleshspoil,” which wanders into some atmospheric guitar and bass noodling, then trundles into a </span><strong><span>Paul Westerberg</span></strong><span> alt-rock passage that could have landed on the soundtrack to </span><em><span>Singles.</span></em><span> All this before ending with some mid-paced death metal riffs, screamed vocals, and marching order snares. Add the growls, shrieks, and </span><strong><span>Halford</span></strong><span>-esque cleans over the majestic doom-blackened deathliness of charred and chugging riffs on “A</span><span> Frail Demise,” and </span><em><span>The Beginning of the End</span></em><span> finds </span><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span> fine-tuned to decimate. If it were all within these veins, things would fare better.</span></p><p><span></span></p><p><span>I’m a fan of </span><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span>‘s willingness to experiment, but not all results hit the mark. Time is not a factor as </span><em><span>The Beginning of the End</span></em><span> clocks in at a trim and tidy thirty-seven minutes. Overwrought transitions and wasted time hurt </span><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span> the most. I found the pendulum-swinging transitions of “Skies Turn to Graves” too jarring, rendering the song more a distraction than a complementary piece of the whole. Throw in the under-developed, three-plus minute “Walking Dead” and the momentum-crushing boringness of album closer “Born Into Despair,” an alt-rock snoozer that fades in on some guitar-lite strumming and bass work and sustains shimmering guitars under shouts and clean vocals before mercifully fading out again with twenty seconds of vinyl scratches and pops. With this song, </span><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span> completely took me out of the mood set by “A Frail Demise” and had me yawning rather than reaching for the play button again. </span></p><p><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span>‘s debut, </span><em><span>The Beginning of the End</span></em><span>, represents a promising entry into the NYC metal pantheon. Andrews’, Van Dyne’s, and Saltzman’s metal credentials are unquestioned. </span><strong><span>Fleshspoil</span></strong><span> has a lot of great ideas and the ability to execute its vision, as half of </span><em><span>The Beginning of the End </span></em><span>suggests. Leaving its softer sides for other projects and flexing its stronger, more progressive melodic death metal muscle should see </span><strong><span>Fleshspoil </span></strong><span>do good, even great things in the future. I will be waiting and watching to see what comes next.</span></p> <p><strong>Rating</strong>: 2.5/5.0<br><strong>DR</strong>: 6 | <strong>Format Reviewed</strong>: 320kbps mp3<br><strong>Label</strong>: Self-Released<br><strong>Websites</strong>: <a href="https://fleshspoilofficial.bandcamp.com/album/the-beginning-of-the-end" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">fleshspoilofficial.bandcamp.com</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/fleshspoil/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">instagram.com/fleshspoil</a><br><strong>Releases Worldwide</strong>: March 28th, 2025</p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2-5/" target="_blank">#25</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2025/" target="_blank">#2025</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/american-metal/" target="_blank">#AmericanMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/arsis/" target="_blank">#Arsis</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/black-metal/" target="_blank">#BlackMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/bleeding-through/" target="_blank">#BleedingThrough</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/death-metal/" target="_blank">#DeathMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/fleshspoil/" target="_blank">#Fleshspoil</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/immolation/" target="_blank">#Immolation</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/mar25/" target="_blank">#Mar25</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/melodic-death-metal/" target="_blank">#MelodicDeathMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/review/" target="_blank">#Review</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/self-releases/" target="_blank">#SelfReleases</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/the-beginning-of-the-end/" target="_blank">#TheBeginningOfTheEnd</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/the-final-sleep/" target="_blank">#TheFinalSleep</a></p>