Spite - Dedication To Flesh (2022)

Every so often, something comes along that forces one to re-evaluate the way they perceive something. It could be a book, a movie, an artist, a person—something poignant and powerful enough emerges and causes a paradigm shift. In 2014, Spite emerged from the Bay Area of California and infused new energy into the stale melting pot that was deathcore at the time. In the years that followed, the band would become synonymous with misanthropy, growing more unique (and uniquely pissed off) with each subsequent release, constantly refining and building on their sound. Now, in 2022, the band lash out with their fourth full-length studio record, Dedication to Flesh—a record that not only sees Spite at their finest, but sees them no longer embodying the word “hate,” but rather, totally redefining it. Dedication to Flesh is violent from start to finish without any notion or hint of reprieve, bombarding the listener with a jaw-dropping arsenal of immolating riffs, break-neck percussion and vocals that are, in a word, inhuman. Spite prove that not only are they dedicated to delivering the most maniacal examples of heavy music possible, they are dedicated to constantly bettering and improving their own sound, style and dynamic—and of course, they’re dedicated to flesh.
From their inception, Spite have made several tweaks to their instrumentation while remaining…well, Spite. Perhaps the biggest leap was from Nothing is Beautiful to The Root of All Evil, where the band leaned much more heavily on traditional metallic influence to create a record built less around bone-crushing breakdowns, but more about mind-melting riffs and song structure. Dedication to Flesh continues this trend of balancing the gnashing of gritty, primal aggression with the twisted, sophisticated brilliance of technically savvy metallic instrumentation. The result feels like a sprawling compendium of all the manic malevolence that Spite have brought us thus far—with elements of the group’s self-titled release flowing beautifully alongside The Root of All Evil’s cunning and refined structure and a heavy-handed splash of something new. Songs like “Some Things You Should Know…” and “Fear” are heavily reminiscent of the band’s earlier years—a ravenous attack on the listener’s senses with jarring down-tuned chugs and percussion that refuses to let up. Here, percussionist Josh Miller is at his most primitive—albeit in a thoroughly punishing way—in stark contrast to “Made to Please” and “Proper One” where his more technical and flashy elements shine. The same can be said for the band’s guitarists Alex Tehrani and Lucas Garrigues; on “Fear,” the two chug along for a little over two minutes, taking swings at the listeners skull as though they were twin sledgehammers. Meanwhile, songs like “The Son of Dawn” and “The Most Ugly” see them infusing a lethal dose of metallic mastery into their writing. This is especially true of “The Most Ugly,” which features an ambient, eerie build-up that is really the closest thing the listener gets to a break throughout the record’s modest runtime. The antics from Tehrani and Garrigues are cemented into a crushing, comprehensive attack by Ben Bamford’s bombastic bass work, with songs like “Hangman” and “Caved In” seeing his thick, booming bass shining alongside dissonant, skin-splitting fretwork. Ultimately, Spite continue to air their demons in more ways than one—venting their bloodlust with flesh-rending instrumentation that demands the listener’s constant attention and praise.
When it comes to putting demons on center stage, its impossible not to consider the vocals from Spite’s frontman Darius Tehrani. Tehrani—who may as well be a demon—puts forth his finest work to date on Dedication to Flesh, where he lets loose his most comprehensive display of visceral, rage-inducing hatred yet. From the very first sheiks of “Lord of the Upside Down,” Tehrani’s roars, bellows and screams flow better and hit harder than ever before and his cadence is unmatched. This trend continues throughout the manic “Proper One” and “The Most Ugly,” which sees Tehrani shine atop an ever-changing soundscape, oscillating between atmosphere and pure aggression. Despite his continued growth when it comes to cadence, meter and variety there is absolutely no question where Tehrani shines the brightest—spoiler alert, its where he’s always excelled—unrivaled, unstoppable and untamed ruthlessness. “The Son of Dawn” alongside “Made to Please” see these elements of Tehrani’s lyricism and vocal expertise dominate, with closing sequences that turn the listener’s vision a pure, incarnadine red. In brief, Tehrani does what he’s always done, but even better than ever before—and all with some new tricks up his sleeve and even more blistering misanthropy.
If Spite’s discography is a tapestry, Dedication to Flesh is no doubt its centerpiece. Woven together peerlessly with titanium strands of hatred, bitterness and malevolence, Dedication to Flesh is a riveting monument to all that it means to be ruthless. By blending the core aspects of a sound Spite has worked tirelessly to make their own with their penchant for continued growth and exploration, the band strike gold, putting out the most authentically Spite record of their career—and a genre-defining, let alone year-defining release in its own right.