Deathmarched - Spearhead of Iron

DEATHMARCHED - Spearhead of Iron (VIOLENT JOURNEY Records - CD 2012)

"Spearhead of Iron" by Finnish band Deathmarched was released back in 2012 and I think this album was very little noticed in the underground. I think it's a shame, because it's a very good album. Especially that in 2012 there weren't yet as many bands, which would play this type of death metal as there are nowadays. Maybe it's all because of the limited abilities of unknown Violent Journey Records... who knows, but Deathmarched ended their history shortly after the release of this only album. What a shame. 

It's actually interesting that Deathmarched was a band formed by the members of some older Finnish bands like God Forsaken or Astaroth (I did like their "Operation Warlord" EP from 1995). Years later they felt a need to form new band and that's how Deathmarched was born. But musically "Spearhead of Iron" hasn't got much in common with such "Dismal Gleams of Desolation" as this is more like a pure, old school to the bone, groovy death metal in the vein of beasts such as Bolt Thrower, Obituary or Asphyx. Slow paced, massively heavy and sometimes also melodic death metal is the weapon of choice, all riffs composed into rather simple and straight forward songs and I have to say that Deathmarched came up with some great songs here. I like that groove, aggression and viciousness, as well as primeval nature of this stuff, how memorable it is with that old school feel, without any modern death metal vibes. Of corpse it wasn't anything exceptional, but just solid and cool to listen to death metal album. It's a pity then that Deathmarched is no more. This was a nice debut for sure. 

Standout tracks: "The Witch of Horror", “In the Gory Fields of Death” 

Verdict: 70/100