Embalmer - There Was Blood Everywhere
1997 Relapse Records

Track Listing:
1.  There Was Blood Everywhere
2.  The Necro-Filing Cabinet
3.  Blood Sucking Freaks
4.  May The Wounds Bleed Forever
5.  Rotten Body Fluids
6.  Bone Box
7.  Morbid Confessions
8.  The Cellar

Line-Up:
Vocals:  Rick Fleming
Guitar:  John (Jocko) Jermann, Mark Davis
Bass:  Dave Phillips, Brian Holmberg
Drums:  Roy Stewart

Shev's Rating:  B+
Average Album Rating:  B+

Shev's Review:
Not for the faint of heart, Embalmer out of Cleveland, Ohio assault the senses with There Was Blood Everywhere which was put out through Relapse as an Underground Series release.  This actually contains the There Was Blood Everywhere 7" released in 1995 along with their second demo released in 1993, Rotting Remains.  To say the sound of There Was Blood Everywhere is "raw" would be an understatement, and it comes in two flavors.  The first four tracks (There Was Blood Everywhere) would be like calling frozen hamburger "raw".  The last four tracks (Rotting Remains) would be the equivalent of calling a frozen cow "raw".

There Was Blood Everywhere is highly recommended to those into death/grindcore.  Rick Fleming on vocals does a great job on both the low-end and the screeching high stuff, always mixing it up so it never becomes boring.  The guitar work is generally kept simple except for some quality death metal soloing.  Embalmer had a different bass player on each release, but since the bass gets buried in the background and only holds up the lighter stuff the talent is wasted anyway.  The only bad part about this release is the drumming which tends to pump out either a sloppy blast beat or a sloppy beat altogether.  The snare is way too dominant, and is detrimental to some songs.  None the less, There Was Blood Everywhere is a "must buy" for those into death metal, grindcore, and goregrind alike...I only wish they had also included Embalmer's first demo, "Into The Oven", as well.

Song summaries include...

1. There Was Blood Everywhere - Starts out with some seriously undercooked goodness.  Rick Fleming does a great job on vocals, but the drumming is a bit muffled  B
2. The Necro-Filing Cabinet - The drumming is entirely lackluster except for the double bass work, but the use of tempo changes and strength of the vocals completely make this song.  A-
3. Blood Sucking Freaks - Starts out a little slow, but picks up nicely.  Great riffs, and even the drumming stands out strong,  A-
4. May The Wounds Bleed Forever - Sick stuff, but the blast beats sound horrible.  One of Embalmer's more memorable death/grind tunes regardless.  B+
5. Rotten Body Fluids - This is where the sound takes a turn for the worst, but Roy Stewart goes insane and there is some spectacular guitar work.  B
6. Bone Box - Nice mix of death/grind/doom and the guitar solo's are highly remarkable.  Only bad part is the overly drawn-out low end vocals which sound more like belching than growling.  A-
7. Morbid Confessions - Embalmer actually throws in a touch of hardcore groove, but nothing stands out otherwise.  C-
8. The Cellar - More burping drawn-out vocals, but this time accompanied by piss poor drums.  Most of this song sounds like a gothic dance party except for a few hyper speed breaks.  D-

Shev's Rating:  B+