The Horde

December 2024

01. Abhorration – “Spawn of the Abhorrent Entity” (from “Demonolatry”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

02. Resurrection – “Pure Be Damned” (from “Embalmed Existence”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

03. Hypocrisy – “Inferior Devoties” (from “Osculum Obscurum”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

04. Benediction – “Unfound Mortality” (from “Transcend the Rubicon”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Disincarnate – “Beyond the Flesh” (from “Dreams of the Carrion Kind”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

06. Dismember – “Crime Divine” (from “Massive Killing Capacity”, 1995) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

07. Edge of Sanity – “Enigma” (from “Unorthodox”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

08. Unanimated – “In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead” (from “In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

09. Excruciate – “Confused Mind” (from “Passage of Life”, 1993) [Submitted by Karl]

10. Decomposed – “Taste the Dying” (from “Hope Finally Died…”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Sadist – “Breathin’ Cancer” (from “Above the Light”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Thorium – “Eclipsed” (from “The Bastard”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

13. Cult of Lilith – “Cosmic Maelstrom” (from “Mara”, 2020) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

14. Kataklysm – “Gravestones & Coffins” (from “Goliath”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

15. Tribal Gaze – “Twitching on the Cross” (from “Twitching on the Cross”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

16. Dying Fetus – “Nocturnal Crucifixion” (from “Bathe in Entrails” demo, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

17. Full of Hell – “Transmuting Chemical Burns” (from “Coagulated Bliss”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

18. De Profundis – “Sectarian Warfare” (from “The Corruption of Virtue”, 2022) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

19. Cannibal Corpse – “Shredded Humans” (from “Hammer Smashed Face” E.P., 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

20. Festergore – “Cryogenic Decay” (from “Constellation of Endless Blight”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

21. Obituary – “Set in Stone” (from “World Demise”, 1994) [Submitted by Karl]

22. Fatal Realm – “Hammer of Heresy” (from “Demo”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

23. I, Cursed – “Liminal” (from “I, Cursed/Blood Service” split E.P., 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

24. Vomit Forth – “Rotting Wool” (from “Terrified of God”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

25. Pyrexia – “The Uncreation” (from “Sermon of Mockery”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

26. Adversarial – “Fanes at the Engur” (from “Solitude With the Eternal…”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

27. Ceremony of Silence – “Perennial Incantation” (from “Hálios”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

28. Cephalectomy – “The Deliberate Provenance of Inescapable Cataclysm” (from “The Deliberate Provenance of Inescapable Cataclysm” single, 2023) [Submitted by Karl]

29. Submerged – “Habitual Degeneration of a Contaminated Species” (from “Tortured at the Depths”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

Ben, please add Canberra death metallers Psychrist.

Gorefest - "Erase" (1994)

I've been a bit of a fan of Dutch death metallers Gorefest since very early on in their recording career which has seen them becoming an artist that I've followed with keen interest throughout most of their existence. They did lose me for a period during the late 1990's when their transition towards more of a death 'n' roll sound reached its ultimate culmination but their early days as a chunky death metal band were unanimously rewarding with 1990's "Horrors in a Retarded Mind" demo tape, 1991's "Mindloss" debut album & 1992's "False" sophomore record all being pretty interesting, if not particularly essential. "False" has always been my favourite of Gorefest's studio albums but I was recently left a little disappointed when my latest revisit only resulted in a 3.5-star rating which left me wondering whether I'd overrated Gorefest a touch over the years. At that point I committed to reexamining 1994's "Erase" third album which was a record that I spent a fair bit of time with at the time of release but haven't returned to since. My memories of it were largely positive but I've always considered it to be the point in which Gorefest started their death 'n' roll transition which culminated in 1998's disappointing "Chapter 13" fifth full-length & that would perhaps explain why I haven't been so keen to return to "Erase". Regardless, I held significant hope for it going into my first listen as I remembered it being pretty solid in its own right.

"Erase" would be Gorefest's second album for the illustrious Nuclear Blast label & would see them venturing outside of the Netherlands for the recording sessions for the first time, this time choosing to record in Germany at T & T Studio in Gelsenkirchen with English producer Pete Coleman who had made a name for himself working behind the mixing desk for bands like Cancer, Demon, Discharge, Disincarnate, Napalm Death & Paradise Lost. The result is another heavy-weight death metal record with a thick down-tuned guitar tune & a bottom-heavy rhythm section. I love the bass guitar tone & the depth that's afforded to the toms & kick drum with the snare drum being really punchy, all of which works really well in support of bassist Jan-Chris de Koeijer's ultra-deep death grunts. The band lineup had remained stable from the one that recorded "False" two years earlier which is a real positive that has seen Gorefest able to continue their musical development unhindered. The guitar solos of Boudewijn Bonebakker that were arguably the low point of "False" have improved significantly here, still being fairly basic from a technical point of view but this time having much more direction & structure than they did on "False". The drumming of Ed Warby (Demiurg/Elegy/Hail of Bullets/The 11th Hour) is rock-solid too & gives the rest of the instrumentalists a beautiful platform with which to work off. He never over-plays his hand here & clearly knew the true meaning of the term "rhythm section".

Gorefest's sound definitely wasn't as deathly on "Erase" as it was on their previous work & it's easy to see why some fans may have been a little put off by the overall direction. Unlike some critics, I wouldn't say that it was a death 'n' roll record as such though. It's still a death metal release for mine but it's certainly one that showcases a fair amount of groove in its controlled & unanimously mid-paced approach. I feel that Carcass' classic 1993 fourth album "Heartwork" has played a significant role in the riff structures on "Erase" actually, not in a melodic sense but in the way they've structured their riffs, always keeping things simple & open in order to maximize the impact of the song-writing. Entombed's "Wolverine Blues" is another record that I find myself calling upon as a point of reference while the more pure groove metal riffs have me reaching for comparisons to California's Machine Head. It all works very nicely although I will say that de Koeijer's vocals don't sit as comfortably over this sound as they did over the more intense death metal of their roots which does limit the appeal of the album a touch. The more intense sections (such as the beautifully executed blast beat riff on "Peace of Paper") definitely see me perking up a lot which is an indication of where my allegiances lie but the band use those parts well in order to create climaxes within their more controlled song structures.

The tracklisting is generally pretty consistent with only the slightly clunky "I Walk My Way" failing to capture my attention. The more hard-hitting & deathly tracks tend to be the ones that grab me more than the rest with the excellent title track, the previously mentioned "Peace of Paper" & the brooding downtempo atmosphere of "Goddess in Black" being the clear standouts. The rest of the material is all pretty entertaining but rarely sees me wanting to stand up & applaud & I think that's the thing that hinders the album's chances of becoming a genuine favourite. It's all professionally written & produced but it's also fairly easy-listening when it comes to extreme metal, instead seeming to target the same sort of crossover appeal that the Carcass & Entombed records I mentioned earlier managed to gain. It does a pretty reasonable job at it too as I've bought into what its selling & that's no easy feat when it comes to my fairly extreme taste profile. But I can't deny that the heights that it's possible to take me to with this sound are limited by the very same thing that gives "Erase" the potential to break through the boundaries of the death metal audience i.e. its accessibility.

"Erase" is another decent death metal record from Gorefest but, as with all of their previous material, I still find myself falling short of claiming it as an essential one. There's no doubt that they were a well-oiled machine who knew what they were doing but they simply can't crack into that second-tier consistently enough to see me wanting to return to them very often. In saying that, I do think that "Erase" is a touch underrated because it doesn't sit all that far behind Gorefest's more obviously deathly early works in terms of quality in my opinion. I'm actually surprised that it didn't make more of a fist of cracking into more commercial metal market to be honest but I think some of that is due to de Koeijer's vocals in all honesty as they're hardly Top of the Pops stuff now, are they?

For fans of Pungent Stench, Entombed & "Heartwork"-era Carcass.

3.5/5

Orphaned Land - "Sahara" (1994)

I revisited the debut album from Israeli melodic/progressive death metal outfit Orphaned Land this week & found that my review from many years ago still represents my feelings perfectly. I will add that I was surprised at just how much of an Atheist influence I found across the first few tracks though:

I hadn't heard this one since the mid-90's & was interested to see how I felt about it these days. It features a fairly progressive & melodic death metal sound mixed with traditional Israeli folk music. That combination spawned some pretty interesting ideas as you can imagine but you can tell they were still developing their sound at this stage. Some of the more melodic death metal sections remind me quite a bit of early Amorphis & the death vocals sound similar to Aaron Stainthorpe's on the first couple of My Dying Bride releases. While it does tend to maintain my interest due to the unusual nature of the sound I still find "Sahara" to be a bit flat. I think it could do with a little more class in the production & musicianship departments to be honest. Orphaned Land certainly deserve credit for creating an album with a strong point of difference though.

3/5

Dying Fetus - "Infatuation with Malevolence" compilation (1995)

Much like my all-time favourite metal band Suffocation, Maryland brutal death metal outfit Dying Fetus represent one of those rare artists that I've followed since way back at their earliest demo tapes, a relationship that has now eclipsed three decades. The global tape trading community first brought them to my attention when I picked up a dubbed cassette copy of both of their early demo tapes (including 1993's "Bathe in Entrails" & 1994's "Infatuation With Malevolence") following some enquiries into what bands might give Suffocation a run for their money in terms of brutality. My source wasn't wrong either & Dying Fetus would go on to have an influence on the direction of my own death metal band Neuropath over the next couple of years. I remember those days fondly but I can't recall returning to either of the Dying Fetus demos until only recently when I gave "Bathe in Entrails" another look. It still offered me a fair bit of enjoyment too so I immediately positioned myself to complete this review of the compilation of the two demo cassettes.

The "Infatuation With Malevolence" CD originally contained just the ten proper death metal tracks from the two demo tapes, excluding the short instrumental "Visualize Permanent Damnation (In E Minor 440)" from the second cassette which is essentially just John Gallagher trying to show off his lead guitar skills & offers no real creative value. The sound quality is very good for this type of release which is largely down to the quality of the original recordings more than it is any post-production or mastering. The compilation was re-released in 2011 along with a slew of additional unreleased live, rehearsal & demo material as well as the inclusion of the previously mentioned instrumental piece. Both demos fall well inside the parameters of the brutal death metal sound with hints at the technicality Dying Fetus would employ later in their career already being quite evident. "Bathe in Entrails" certainly sounds more like demo tape than the second cassette does, particularly due to the poorly executed blast beats of Gallagher who was handling the drumming on top of his guitar duties in the absence of a capable skinsman. That would be improved on significantly for "Infatuation With Malevolence" with Rob Belton joining the band behind the kit. Original second guitarist Nick Speleos had also been replaced with Brian Latta joining Gallagher & bassist Jason Netherton (Misery Index) in a more polished & professional configuration of the band.

Both tapes are surprisingly brutal for the time with Suffocation obviously being the primary influence. The impact of the early Cannibal Corpse records can easily be detected in the first tape but it's less obvious on "Infatuation With Malevolence". Listening back now, it's easy to be critical of the terrible drumming of main man John Gallagher on "Bathe in Entrails" but his guitar work was very accomplished (particularly the James Murphy-ish solos which are surprisingly proficient for such a young dude) & the multiple-vocal attack is as gutteral as all fuck so it can't be all bad now, can it? It's interesting that Dying Fetus really haven't changed their sound all that much at all over the 31 years since their earliest demo recordings which says a lot about why I found it so appealing as a young fella. Dying Fetus would certainly get better though & I tend to dig their albums a bit more than this first up effort these days but I can't deny that I still get a fair bit of nostalgic enjoyment out of a good half of the six songs included. The others simply suffer a bit too much from Gallagher's inability to play double kick in time. I wouldn't say that "Infatuation With Malevolence" is exactly a step up but it is definitely better & I'd actually suggest that it's still my second favourite Dying Fetus release to this day. Their sound is generally tighter with the improved production job being pretty much in line with most proper releases to come out of the underground at the time. The dual vocal attack of Gallagher & Jason Netherton is pretty devastating but I would have appreciated a little more in the way of intelligibility from the ultra-deep delivery as it can sound like a parody it itself at times.

The tracklisting isn't without its blemishes, mainly during the "Bathe in Entrails" material which is fairly hit & miss. I can't say that "Wretched Flesh Consumption", "Vomiting the Fetal Embryo" & "Tearing Inside the Womb" do much for me these days but thankfully the other three songs are strong enough to carry that cassette. The four proper songs on "Infatuation With Malevolence" are more consistent in their quality with opener "Eviscerated Offspring" & the excellent "And the Weak Shall Be Crushed" being the clear highlights of the release in my opinion. The New York hardcore influence that would perpetuate Dying Fetus' later releases makes the odd appearance but I wouldn't say that it's as obvious as it would become in later years, even if the boys clearly already knew how to hit on a bad-assed groove riff at times. As with all Dying Fetus records, they do have a tendency to balance out the killer riffs with some fairly flat ones which has been a long-time gripe that I've held with the Fetus but boy they can be crushing when they get their slam on. In fact, their influence on the slam death metal scene is as plain as day, even on these demos.

If you're a big fan of Dying Fetus' albums then you probably need to check out "Infatuation With Malevolence" at some point, if only to satisfy your curiosity. Personally, I still quite enjoy it & would probably reach for it over some of the band's later releases like "Killing On Adrenaline" & "Wrong One To Fuck With" these days if I'm being honest. Despite always having been a great live band, it is worth noting though that Dying Fetus are very much the epitome of a 3.5-star band for me personally in that I invariably enjoy their releases but never find them to be essential listening, mainly due to the gratuitous use of technicality which adds very little of substance & sounds more like a practice exercise most of the time. That's less of an issue on "Infatuation With Malevolence" which sees it able to compare quite favourably with the band's wider discography when looking back over the more than three decades of Dying Fetus' existence.

For fans of Suffocation, Misery Index & Skinless.

3.5/5

Here's my review:

During my early tape trading days, I developed an obsession with exploring everything that the Australian underground metal scene had to offer, even more so after joining that scene with my own death metal band Neuropath. In order to facilitate that indulgence, I started communicating with a lot of other bands from around the country, usually by mail. One of the plethora of bands that I picked up on through that exercise was Adelaide blackened death metal four-piece Martire & their 1991 self-titled debut E.P. which I quite liked & would see me keeping track of the South Australians throughout the remainder of the 1990's. Martire's chaotic take on extreme metal fell very much into line with the signature Aussie sound I was hearing at the time in that it combined my three favourite metal subgenres (i.e death metal, black metal & thrash metal) in a raucous style full of energy & authenticity & I would continue to comb the scene for more bands like that over the years. For one reason or another though, the "Martire" E.P. wouldn't end up being one that I haven't returned to much so I've been looking forward to revisiting it in the modern day to see how it holds up to my more mature ears.

"Martire" is a very short six-song release that's built for immediate impact. It would receive an initial run of 1,000 as the first metal release to come from local label Dominator Records who also put out records from other local Aussie artists like Deadpool, In:Extremis, Nocturnal & Orgy of Pigs (who shared bass player Frank Usmani with Martire). The band had recorded two unheralded demo tapes prior to the release of "Martire", the second of which contains the track "Peace Keeper" which would be re-recorded for the EP. The production job is kept very raw which suits Martire nicely given just how chaotic & noisy their sound is with the performances being quite loose by today's standards but never allowing the arrangements to completely get away from them. I enjoy the sound of this record actually. It oozes of underground credibility while allowing enough clarity for all of the key components to be heard quite easily so it's got the balance right even if it's a long way from the glossy US death metal model.

I'd describe Martire's sound as being blackened death metal with the release starting off in conventional death metal space for the first couple of tracks before expanding its arsenal into hybrid territory. It's interesting that the blackened side of the band's sound sits very close to the classic black metal model that we all know & love yet "Martire" was released a year before the Norwegian scene even took off through Darkthrone & Burzum. This fact alone gives "Martire" an extra layer of intrigue for someone like myself. Short instrumental opener "Slut" reminds me quite a bit of Autopsy's faster material but the remainder of the record sees drummer Dave Hopgood opting for a blast-beat heavy maelstrom that seems to be in a real hurry & is over in the blink of an eye. The vocals of guitarist Vince Feleppa alternate between a death grunt & a blackened shriek while the riffs tend to drift in & out of the three genres with the end result simply being too extreme to call thrash even if there is a clear thrash component to Martire's sound. I'd hazard to guess that early Morbid Angel was an influence on the guitar work based on some of the techniques on display. I have to admit that the temptation to want to call this release war metal appears quite often too but, despite sharing similar elements, it never quite gets there. You can easily see the influence on Aussie war metal artists like Bestial Warlust though.

The opening track "Slut" isn't terribly interesting to be honest but the remainder of the E.P. is universally engaging. While it may be a feather in Martire's cap at times, I have to admit that the lack of precision is a limiting factor for me in how far I can allow the E.P. to connect with me though. I certainly enjoy all of the vocal tracks but rarely find myself feeling like I can allow myself to fully commit to this record. The excellent closer "Thou Shalt Burn" is the only track that I'd suggest manages to crack the second tier with the rest of the material simply being mildly enjoyable extreme metal with a decidedly underground attitude & aesthetic. I can see other metalheads connecting with it on a grander scale than I have though as I feel that Martire fall into a space that perpetuates somewhat of a cult status. It's visceral, relentless & savage while always maintaining a level of naivety.

It's easy to see why Martire might still be talked about in the Australian underground scene as they were definitely breaking new ground on a local level. It's also not hard to appreciate why they may not have reached the global metal masses to the same extent that Slaughter Lord & Sadistik Exekution did. Still, I've quite enjoyed my revisit to "Martire" & have penciled in some time with their other demo material in the coming months as a result too. If you're looking to discover what the Australian underground extreme metal scene of the early 90's was all about then look no further than this largely forgotten piece of hectic barbarity because it's certainly not lacking in intensity.

For fans of Abominator, Anatomy & Decrepit Soul.

3.5/5

Sonny, I reckon you might score this one a bit higher than I have mate.

It's not Sonny. Consider it done.

Karl & Vinny, the monthly allowance has been cut down to 30 minutes each moving forwards. I'll add that to the thread title to remind everyone.

There's a new Pestilence album coming out entitled "Portals" which the band says will be a "huge step forward both musically & lyrically".

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19aUjWf9hJ/

Pungent Stench - "Club Mondo Bizarre - For Members Only" (1994)

Hilariously titled Austrian death metallers Pungent Stench & I have always shared a positive relationship. I got onboard with them fairly early on in their recording career with both of their first two albums receiving a tonne of plays from me as a young fella while I also quite liked their split record with countrymen Disharmonic Orchestra. They'd started to dick with their sound a bit on 1993's "Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats" E.P. though with their filthy take on the classic death metal model having been infiltrated by the death 'n' roll sound that bands like Entombed & Carcass were pushing at the time, along with some further experimentation with electronics. Many fans couldn't get into their new direction but I still found enough to keep me interested. It did put my guard up a little when it came to the Stench's next release in 1994's "Club Mondo Bizarre - For Members Only" though. Still... while it may not have been the Pungent Stench I'd developed such a strong affiliation with during their early days, I can't deny that it still offered me a reasonable level of appeal & remember the experience quite fondly, despite not having returned to the album since the mid-1990's. I wouldn't say that I've been absolutely busting to return to the album this week but I was a little intrigued to see if I'd still find it a positive experience in my more mature years.

As with all of Pungent Stench's previous material, "Club Mondo Bizarre - For Members Only" features some seriously sick themes & cover art which is perhaps the main reason that they had even become known to me in the first place. I picked up my copy of the album on CD from the local metal record store upon release & had no idea of what visual delights I was in for based on first impressions with the cover's true identity only being fully unveiled upon removing it from the jewel case & unfolding it to reveal an image that my mother would no doubt have been horrified to know her teenage some was casually perusing. The band had maintained the same three-piece lineup that they'd traversed their entire back catalogue with to the time & had recorded the album at Sing Sang Studios in Vienna, Austria during the middle of 1993 with front man Martin Schirenc (Hollenthon/Kreuzweg Ost) sharing the production duties with Gregore Schwarzenegger who had worked with the Stench on all of their previous records. The resulting sound is a little less disgusting & metallic than we may have come to expect from the band but isn't all that different to that we heard on "Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats" with the guitar tone having as much in common with grunge/alternative rock as it does with metal. This suits the style of the riffs quite well & gives the album some additional swing which was an important component of Pungent Stench's mid-90's sound. In fact, this element alone is almost enough to tell the casual listener that they shouldn't take things too seriously when it comes to this band.

From a stylistic point of view, "Club Mondo Bizarre - For Members Only" sees Pungent Stench completely dropping the sickly death metal sound of their roots in order to fully indulge themselves in the death 'n' roll sound that they'd begun exploring on the E.P. from the previous year. Schirenc's death grunts have been maintained but the instrumentation has taken a more groove-oriented approach that sees the rhythm section of Pitbull Jack & Rector Stench combining to give the Austrians a healthy swagger while Shirenc does his best to repulse the listener with his humorous yet still unashamedly disgusting lyrics. Martin clearly had a real knack for this sort of shit & I can't help but find the appeal in his clever way with words, even if they were often used to describe scenes where people were consuming each other's waste amongst other things. I don't generally go for a more satirical or comical brand of metal but there's just something about the way that Pungent Stench have angled their approach that seems to overcome any hesitation I might normally maintain for this sort of thing.

In saying that though, the tracklisting is fairly inconsistent with all of the material hovering either side of my enjoyment threshold. Thankfully, the wins slightly outweigh the losses here to see me affording the album a respectable score but it was a fairly close call to be honest. A good half of these tracks aren't really all that enjoyable to someone that takes their extreme metal as seriously as I do but the other half offer just enough messy fun to make the whole experience palatable. It's really pretty hard not the smile while listening to the stronger inclusions here, even if they'll hardly change your life. "I'm a Family Man", "True Life" & "Fuck Bizarre" are probably my pick of the bunch but "Treatments of Pain" & "Rape - Pagar Con La Misma Moneda" are also pretty decent. There's nothing too horrible amongst the material that sits on the other side of the line though so the lack of any genuine classics hasn't had the impact that it might have in the event of anything truly awful having been included.

Look... death 'n' roll isn't really my thing but I'll be damned if Pungent Stench don't know who to do it right. While "Club Mondo Bizarre - For Members Only" may well have been the weakest Stench offering to the time, it still manages to put a smile on my dial & that's really the intent of this sort of outfit, isn't it? In saying that though, I do think a large chunk of our The Horde members might struggle with it a bit so if you don't have much time for the artists I've listed below as points of reference then you may wanna steer clear of this one.

For fans of Xysma, mid-to-late 90's Gorefest & "Swansong"-era Carcass.

3.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=b55f18613b684f0a

Tracklisting:

01. Abhorration – “Spawn of the Abhorrent Entity” (from “Demonolatry”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

02. Resurrection – “Pure Be Damned” (from “Embalmed Existence”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

03. Hypocrisy – “Inferior Devoties” (from “Osculum Obscurum”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

04. Benediction – “Unfound Mortality” (from “Transcend the Rubicon”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Disincarnate – “Beyond the Flesh” (from “Dreams of the Carrion Kind”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

06. Dismember – “Crime Divine” (from “Massive Killing Capacity”, 1995) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

07. Edge of Sanity – “Enigma” (from “Unorthodox”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

08. Unanimated – “In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead” (from “In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

09. Excruciate – “Confused Mind” (from “Passage of Life”, 1993) [Submitted by Karl]

10. Decomposed – “Taste the Dying” (from “Hope Finally Died…”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Sadist – “Breathin’ Cancer” (from “Above the Light”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Thorium – “Eclipsed” (from “The Bastard”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

13. Cult of Lilith – “Cosmic Maelstrom” (from “Mara”, 2020) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

14. Kataklysm – “Gravestones & Coffins” (from “Goliath”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

15. Tribal Gaze – “Twitching on the Cross” (from “Twitching on the Cross”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

16. Dying Fetus – “Nocturnal Crucifixion” (from “Bathe in Entrails” demo, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

17. Full of Hell – “Transmuting Chemical Burns” (from “Coagulated Bliss”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

18. De Profundis – “Sectarian Warfare” (from “The Corruption of Virtue”, 2022) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

19. Cannibal Corpse – “Shredded Humans” (from “Hammer Smashed Face” E.P., 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

20. Festergore – “Cryogenic Decay” (from “Constellation of Endless Blight”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

21. Obituary – “Set in Stone” (from “World Demise”, 1994) [Submitted by Karl]

22. Fatal Realm – “Hammer of Heresy” (from “Demo”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

23. I, Cursed – “Liminal” (from “I, Cursed/Blood Service” split E.P., 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

24. Vomit Forth – “Rotting Wool” (from “Terrified of God”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

25. Pyrexia – “The Uncreation” (from “Sermon of Mockery”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

26. Adversarial – “Fanes at the Engur” (from “Solitude With the Eternal…”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

27. Ceremony of Silence – “Perennial Incantation” (from “Hálios”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

28. Cephalectomy – “The Deliberate Provenance of Inescapable Cataclysm” (from “The Deliberate Provenance of Inescapable Cataclysm” single, 2023) [Submitted by Karl]

29. Submerged – “Habitual Degeneration of a Contaminated Species” (from “Tortured at the Depths”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

Nile - The Underworld Awaits Us All (2024)

Nile finally return with their tenth studio album, almost five years on from 2019's Vile Nilotic Rites. These guys are one of my absolute favourite tech death crews, but even I must admit that they have been somewhat underwhelming over the last two or three albums, so I didn't go into The Underworld Awaits Us All with particularly high expectations. Happily, however, the band seem to have returned, post-pandemic, with a renewed sense of purpose, laying down their best material for some time. They have obviously retained the technical chops and songwriting skill that such well-established names have accumulated over the years, but they have also rediscovered a younger band's vitality and energy that it seemed had deserted them some time ago. They have definitely upped the ante in the brutality stakes on The Underworld Awaits Us All, their technical skullduggery all seemingly directed towards the purpose of hammering your senses with pummelling body blows of visceral and savage precision.

The riffing is some of their best in years, frantic, fierce and energetic, yet flawlessly executed, whilst the soloing is expansive and expressive, yet is also superbly controlled and tightly executed so as not to sound self-indulgent or trite. Particular note must be made of George Kollias machine gun-like drumming which reaches hyperkinetic performance levels without ever missing a beat. The man must be part Terminator to sustain this level of drumming intensity and precision. The production is worth a mention as it is as impressive as the musical performances, with a depth and clarity that allows the entire band to shine and no one suffering for want of presence in the mix, both guitars and drums sounding beautifully crisp and sharp.

This is obviously a Nile record so there is a certain level of grandiosity expected, which is lent an additional level of pomp by the inclusion of operatically choral backing vocals to accompany the usual roaring, deathly growls and the eastern-flavoured interludes are present and correct once more. Despite the emphasis on the Ancient Egyptian themes that permeate the band's very essence, I have never really felt that they get in the way of the music and once more that is true here. The moments where the atmospherics take over are relatively brief, being mainly restricted to the short interludes and the closing instrumental, "Lament for the Destruction of Time", the band never losing sight of the fact that their fans are metalheads who come to hear technically adept death metal that is at once searingly savage and brutally bludgeoning. And in that respect Nile have delivered, presenting us with their best album since Those Whom the Gods Detest and in so doing, rising once more to the top of the tech death tree.

4/5

I am glad Nile have posted this because this is a situation I always want to avoid and the advice on this public service video is invaluable if you too have no wish to be hung upside down on a stake in the underworld and made to eat feces by the four apes. I think more metal bands ought to contribute public service messages to help keep people safe in this crazy world of improbable divine punishments!

Anal Cunt - "Everyone Should Be Killed" (1994)

Massachusetts-based noisegrind outfit Anal Cunt was first unceremoniously dumped on my life like a pile of concrete-infused shit through the tape trading scene of the early 1990's. I guess their moniker alone was enough to intrigue an excitable young teenager like myself who was buoyed by the fact that it'd shock all of those U2-worshipping conformists I called my friends. It certainly did the trick too with my dubbed cassette copies of Anal Cunt's "47 Song Demo", "88 Song E.P.", "5643 Song EP" & "Morbid Florist" E.P. all serving some level of usefulness, if only for shock value alone. They were still very much a side-hustle until Frank Munoz joined Neuropath & his fascination with ultra-extreme grind artists like this one would see us sharing many a drunken laugh with Anal Cunt releases as the catalyst. This all leads up to 1994's "Everyone Should Be Killed" debut album which would see Anal Cunt collaborating with my much-beloved Earache Records for the first time, a concept that saw me eagerly requesting a copy from my collection of traders. The result served its purpose too & I remember quite liking "Everyone Should Be Killed", if perhaps not as much as "Morbid Florist" which was still my A.C. release of choice & kinda nullified the chances of me returning to the album much over the several decades since. I guess I don't really need too many different examples of this style of music as there's not all that much to differentiate between each release given the sheer extremity of it all. So, this leads me into my first revisit to "Everyone Should Be Killed" in roughly thirty years. Let's see if it offers much in the way of musical merit now that I'm much older & wiser (weeellll.... older at least).

"Everyone Should Be Killed" differs in scope dramatically from the plethora of earlier Anal Cunt releases in that it's run time is far more extreme at an over-indulgent 58 minutes which begs the question as to just how much of this sort of stuff does anyone need in their lives. The early A.C. releases tended to be 7" singles that stuffed a kazillion tracks into a total run time of less than twenty minutes (often less than ten actually) while their debut album saw that duration being massively extended to a whopping 58 minutes of noisegrind battery. I honestly have to wonder if there's anybody out there that feels like that was justified because there's a whole bunch of repetition going on here that makes it easier to simply listen to the album in more easily consumed bite-sized pieces. The lineup that had been reduced to just the duo of front man/guitarist Seth Putnam (Adolf Satan/Full Blown A.I.D.S./Impaled Northern Moonforest/Insult/Post Mortem/Siege/Upsidedown Cross) & drummer Tim Morse (Grief) for the "Morbid Florist" E.P. has been maintained here & I can't say that A.C. would have benefited from additional collaborators at this point as these two certainly get the job done in no uncertain terms. Their collaboration with producer Tina Morrissey has also been extended from "Morbid Florist" & is just a successful too with all of this material receiving just enough clarity to allow the instrumentation to be deciphered while also combining it all into a super-harsh ball of burning, shit-covered bricks to peg through your least-favoured school teacher's window.

If you haven't heard Anal Cunt before then let me enlighten you as to what you're likely to experience (& it is an experience. Trust me on that.). The noisegrind subgenre that you've probably seen being bandied around the internet was pretty much dreamed up to describe Anal Cunt's bastardized maelstrom & "Everyone Should Be Killed" is a prime example of what it was originally intended to describe. What we have here is 58 songs that average around a minute in duration each although many of them are much shorter than that with a few longer tracks bumping that average up. The vast majority of them see Putnam & Morse simply pressing record & blasting into the most cacophonous wall of blast-beat driven noise you've ever heard in your life with Putnam making an attempt to touch upon every form of twisted vocal abhorrence the human form has ever dared to dream up. He reminds me a lot of Mike Patton's more extreme moments at times, such is the sheer ridiculousness of some of the sounds he comes up with but when he opts for a more traditional hardcore-meets-death-metal approach there are very few that can compete with his ferocity & this is one of the drawcards for Anal Cunt's "music" in my opinion. The other is the relentless savagery of Morse's blast beats which are really very precise for this sort of novelty act. I know he doesn't have to showcase much in the way of endurance on a record like this one but he really does reach some pretty impressive speeds here & with a consistent level of control & power being maintained throughout too.

The tracklisting can be very daunting at first & it's not done any favours by the fact that the album kicks off with a succession of pretty similar songs that continue to bash you over the cranium in exactly the same way. Things become a little more interesting when Anal Cunt's sense of humour starts to kick in with a few silly cover versions of widely disparate & intentionally inappropriate songs from popular music culture. This sees the album being broken up a little & is taken much further by the inclusion of a number of lengthier sludge metal pieces through the middle of the album, most of which represent the highlights of the album in my opinion. In fact, I honestly think that A.C. would have made a stellar sludge act because they sound incredibly heavy when they slow things down with Putnam's vicious screams becoming the ultimate weapon (see the incredible "Song #5" as a prime example). That said though, the weaker moments on the album tend to correspond with the tracks where Putnam takes his vocal indulgences a little too far into general weirdness which sees some pieces sounding like a parody of what was essentially a parody to begin with. It was probably never intended to be taken seriously to begin with but I do need some level of musical value to be found in my music.

Still, I can't deny my attraction to the most extreme forms of music imaginable & this album certainly ticks that box. It doesn't matter that many of the songs had appeared on Anal Cunt's previous releases because a lot of this record sounds the same anyway. It's just that it offers the same sort of appeal as a fatal car crash. It's entirely unpleasant to view yet you can't take your eyes off it. That statement basically sums up the vast majority of the Anal Cunt material I've experienced over the years actually with this release being one of the better ones. I still think I favour "Morbid Florist" over "Everyone Should Be Killed" but I definitely think this is an underrated release in their back catalogue because I can't deny that I've enjoyed the experience on some level & I can't say the same about some of the band's early demos & singles. Still... there's no doubt at all that this is an inherently & intentionally divisive release that will not appeal to a large audience. I kinda dig it though so you can all go fuck yourselves. :)

For fans of Sore Throat, Fear of God & Sete Star Sept.

3.5/5

Dead/Regurgitate - "Dead/Regurgitate" split album (1994)

I stumbled upon this split album featuring Germany's Dead & Sweden's Regurgitate during my mid-90's tape trading heyday, inspired to investigate it after having really dug Regurgitate's debut album "Effortless Regurgitation of Bright Red Blood" from earlier the same year. I'd never heard of Dead before but ended up getting a fair bit of enjoyment out of both band's contributions to what could only be described as one of the better goregrind releases I've encountered. I don't believe I've returned to it in the many years since though, instead tending to turn to a couple of my Regurgitate records of choice whenever I feel the urge but I'm glad that I've finally given it another listen this week, even if I suspect that it might not receive another sitting from me in the future.

This split release is a collection that includes eight new songs from each band as well as the five Regurgitate tracks that were included on their split 7" single with German noisegrind outfit Vaginalmassaker back in 1992. Dead's inclusions would later receive a dedicated release on 2011's "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" album while I think this is the only place you'll find the new Regurgitate material. The two bands have quite different sounds to each other but are both well worth hearing & it's really just a matter of taste as to which you might prefer. Dead's contribution is very well produced with a thick & chunky guitar tone that fills your headphones with a heavy combination of classic death metal & blasting goregrind. I'd suggest that the former is comfortably in the ascendency here though which makes Dead an attractive option for me given my taste profile. The Germans tend to explore a lot more territory in regard to tempo than their more consistently brutal Swedish counterparts with their triple-vocal approach drawing close comparisons to Carcass' late 80's releases. Regurgitate offer a much dirtier & more traditional goregrind sound that I tend to prefer, mainly because it's a touch more relentless in its commitment to pure savagery. The tracks from the 7" single sound noticeably different though & are clearly less effective than the newer material with the vocals being produced in that ridiculous vocoded, monster-esque fashion that has often annoyed me about the goregrind scene. I greatly prefer the more deathly growl employed on the more brutal new songs that make up for their less impressive production job with pure energy & attitude.

You can't really go wrong with these 21 tracks if you're an extreme metal fan with only a couple of duds amongst them. Dead's decision to close out their side with an annoying cover version of Mentors' "Woman of Sodom" was hard to understand as it certainly detracts from what was otherwise a pretty rock solid deathgrind experience. The first track from Regurgitate's split with single with Vaginalmassaker "Morbid Reality" isn't amazing either but I get a fair bit of enjoyment out of the remainder of this record without ever really discovering anything too game-changing. Dead's best material comes right at the beginning of the album with the one-two punch of "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" into "Far Beyond Your Imagination" being the clear highlights. The new Regurgitate inclusions offer a more consistently strong standard though which is perhaps why I've ended up exploring more of their releases in the future while leaving Dead behind. The first three songs on their side are all really solid while the same can be said for the trio of tracks starting with the violent mosh pit anthem "Praedilectio for Menorrhagia". None of Regurgitate's efforts overstay their welcome which is just how I like my grindcore. As soon as they've hit on a riff that I find to be less appealing they've moved on to something that hits my fancy which is a great way to keep the listeners attention.

While this split release might not be the most original one you'll ever hear, it does offer a point of difference from the rest of the goregrind records out there in that neither band fit into the generic goregrind model. I've really enjoyed Dead's more death metal-inspired sound as well as the strong production job while Regurgitate's tendency to steer away from those ridiculous vocoded vocals for the majority of their allocation while blasting me into submission with exciting grindcore instrumentation has left me feeling exhilarated at times. It's a shame that they didn't close out the album in the same fashion though as the shorter tracks from the Vaginalmassaker split sound a little inferior in comparison, even if I generally enjoy most of those songs in isolation. As it is though, the Dead/Regurgitate split has been well worth a revisit, even if I can't see myself returning to it any time soon. I think I'm far more likely to reach for my Regurgitate releases of choice (i.e. "Effortless Regurgitation of Bright Red Blood" & 2002's "Hatefilled Vengeance" E.P.) instead to be honest.

For fans of Dead Infection, Haemorrhage & early Carcass.

3.5/5

Dead - "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" (2011)

German deathgrind outfit Dead & I first made our acquaintance back in 1994 when I stumbled over their split CD with Swedish goregrinders Regurgitate, a release that I quite liked at the time but one that wasn't strong quite enough to see me following Dead into the future with the band still active today. Earlier this week though, I decided to revisit the Dead/Regurgitate split &, while I was undertaking that exercise, I discovered that Dead's contribution to that release could be found in isolation on their 2011 "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" album. That particular record has given me some mild enjoyment over the last few days which has triggered me to write this review, a positive affirmation of the talents of a relatively unknown yet still more than decent extreme metal band who doesn't attempt to reinvent the wheel but understands the wheel's functionality & intent very well.

Dead had released five or six demos & E.P.'s prior to the Regurgitate split, none of which I recall hearing before, & would enter Nürnberg's Pinguin Studios with unknown engineer Rainer Deckelmann to record their side of the split album some time in the first half of 1994. Dead had maintained the three-piece lineup that recorded their initial demo tape "Far Beyond Your Imagination" three years earlier & you can hear that in the professional way they lay down their craft here. Their model seems to have been crafted on the early Carcass one with each of the three band members contributing vocals in a triple-threat configuration that sees deeper grunts being complimented by higher register gurgles. Dead's sound is thick, chunky & tight with their simple riffs being backed up by a unified delivery that leaves each song sounding not only very heavy but also quite catchy. In a stylistic sense, I feel that they have a foot in both the goregrind & classic death metal camps which is an attractive option for me personally as it allows me to take them a little more seriously than most bands that are connected with the goregrind movement.

The tracklisting is a touch top-heavy with the album opening with the best material, my favourites being the blasting title track & the equally high-quality demo track "Far Beyond Your Imagination" which had been re-recorded for this exercise. I particularly enjoy the sections where Dead slow things down a bit with the excellent production job giving the band's doomier side the weight it needs to draw a physical reaction from the listener. The blasting Carcass-inspired grind sections are also really exciting & are executed with a suitable level of precision. All of this material is pretty fun actually although I have to question the decision to include a silly cover version of Mentors' "Woman of Sodom" to close out the record because it does leave me a bad taste in my mouth. I know its lyrical themes fit in with Dead's sexually provocative image but its general silliness tends to detract from an otherwise pretty good release.

While "For Lovers of the New Bizarre" may not be essential listening, I've found myself getting into it quite a bit this week. I'm not sure it'll be enough to see me reaching for the rest of Dead's back catalogue but it was an admirable effort nonetheless. I've never been the biggest goregrind fan to be honest but this death metal-infused version seems entirely more palatable & is well worth exploring.

For fans of Blood, Pungent Stench & Fornicator.

3.5/5

A really solid list this month guys. There were one or two standouts, though. Number one for me was The Chasm track - I really need to dig deeper into these guys' discography. I have only heard their 2000 album, "Procession to the Infraworld" which I dug quite a lot. Elsewhere, tracks that stood out, that I was unaware of, were those by Edge of Sanity, Necrot, Defeated Sanity and Mortem. A few I already know and enjoy were from Coffins, Nile and Immolation. The only one I struggled with a bit was the Kataklysm track, mainly because of the vocals - I liked the tone of them, but the guy's delivery was really awkward and it seemed like he was trying to cram too many lyrics into each line which I ultimately found distracting. 

Nice work by everyone involved.

Cannibal Corpse - "Dead Forever" (1992)

A live bootleg release that was clearly recorded with a handheld tape recorder at a 1991 show in Germany. The inclusion of Suffocation's "Reincremated" demo tacked onto the end is a clear plus as it should be essential listening for any fan of the more brutal end of the death metal spectrum but the overall release isn't worth your hard-earned money (or mine as was the case back in 1992 when I purchased the CD).

For fans of Deicide, Cannabis Corpse & Monstrosity.

3/5

Here's my review:

My earliest exposure to Danish death metallers Illdisposed came back in my mid-1990's tape trading days when I picked up the band's first three albums from an overseas associate of mine. I enjoyed all three to varying degrees but don't recall any of them really leaving me convinced that Illdisposed were the real deal in regard to the death metal movement that was already peaking when the Danes appeared on the scene. Our paths would not cross again for many years as I'd miss Illdisposed's first couple of early 2000's albums while I was on hiatus from the metal scene during my decade of electronic music experimentation. Our next encounter wouldn't come until Ben would introduce me to their 2004 sixth album "1-800 Vindication" upon my return to metal in around 2009 & I found it to showcase a different sounding Illdisposed to the one I'd encountered previously. This was a cleaner & more accessible version of the band that saw them adding a fair dose of melody to their approach & I initially found it very appealing, particularly given that I'm not generally one to gravitate towards the more melodic end of death metal. I'd return to "1-800 Vindication" a couple of times over the years & my affection for that record would see me exploring Illdisposed's next five full-lengths with varying results. None of them would hit the spot like "1-800 Vindication" did & a few of them were completely disposable so I've tended to use "1-800 Vindication" as my go-to Illdisposed release for a long time now. Interestingly though, I've never given it the dedicated attention required for a full Metal Academy review until now so I've gone into this exercise with an element of excitement.

One of the major differences with "1-800 Vindication" was that Illdisposed had finally been picked up by a reputable record label in Roadrunner Records which afforded them the financial backing to ensure a quality production job. The album sounds crisp & powerful with the riffs being given the clarity to highlight their precise execution. The record arrived a full three years after 2001's "Kokaiinum" which allowed front man Bo Sommer the time to fully recover from alcohol addiction & it features a brand-new rhythm section in bassist Jonas Kloge & drummer Thomas Jensen, both who do a very good job in accentuating Illdisposed's heavy-hitting brand of groovy death metal. Summer's deep death growls & higher-pitched screams sound as fresh as they ever have & represent the clear focal point of the record although the most noteworthy attribute is the incorporation of a new melodic death metal sound that borrows heavily from the greats of the subgenre with Carcass' "Heartwork" & At The Gates' "Slaughter of the Soul" being clear sources of inspiration. The use of synthesizers to add further melodic interest is also worth mentioning although I would suggest that its success is a little debatable. Illdisposed haven't completely abandoned their roots here though as there's still a conventional death metal component on show here too although I'd suggest that the melodic material has taken the ascendency overall. The riff structures have a tendency to veer away from the classic death metal tremolo-picked style towards a simpler but no less crushing groove metal one quite regularly which gives Illdisposed a further point of differentiation too.

Over the years I've found myself tending to gravitate towards certain key songs on the album & I can now see why as the tracklisting tends to be a little hit & miss for me these days. I've found myself feeling very positive about muscular efforts like opener "I Believe in Me" (my personal favourite), "When You Scream", "Still Sane" & "You Against the World" but these peaks are offset by some weaker numbers like "Dark", "In Search of Souls" & particularly the lacklustre "Now We're History" which do very little for me. Those less impressive moments do tend to match up with the more melodically & commercially inclined inclusions though so it's arguably just a matter of taste. The clean vocals of producer Niels Peter "Ziggy" Siegfredsen can be a little hit & miss at times in my opinion as they have a tendency to take some of the steam out of a perfectly good death metal tune but thankfully the wins outweigh the losses reasonably comfortably to make for an entertaining (if still largely inessential) Danish death metal experience. It's hard to say whether I still regard "1-800 Vindication" as Illdisposed's finest work or not but I have a feeling that I probably do. I also think it'll offer a little more appeal to melodeath fans than it does to me as there's definitely enough chunky & well-composed song-writing on offer if you can look past the album's failings.

For fans of Kataklysm, Autumn Leaves & Arch Enemy.

3.5/5

Here's my review: 

Florida death metallers Obituary played an extremely important role in my teenage years. The late 1980's had seen me very quickly being transformed from a pimple-faced hard rock & heavy metal kid into a fully-fledged thrash nut off the back of the Big Four but it wouldn't be long before the lure of the darker & more intense death metal world would start to progressively increase the tension on the chord it had attached to the back of my pants when I first heard Death's "Leprosy" album. Some devastating experiences with underground metal radio programming would lead to me purchasing both of Obituary's first two albums (1989's "Slowly We Rot" & 1990's "Cause of Death") & I very quickly became a convert for life. The vocal talents of front man John Tardy left me gasping for superlatives & he's remained my favourite death metal vocalist to this day while the incredible doomy atmosphere & dazzling guitar virtuosity of James Murphy on "Cause of Death" have left it in the top echilon of the global death metal movement for all the decades since. By the time 1992's super-successful "The End Complete" album hit my CD drawer, I regarded myself as an Obituary tragic who had even secured dubbed copies of the early Xecutioner demos so my anticipation for 1994's "World Demise" fourth album was pretty much at the maximum recordable level & I'm not sure whether that actually had an impact on my feelings about the album but I've generally always found that I rated it a fair bit higher than other metalheads seem to. I've returned to it regularly over the years but have never gotten around to rating it until now so it'll be interesting to see where it sits against Obituary's highly celebrated earlier works.

"World Demise" saw Obituary displaying signs of an internal battle of sorts. On the one hand, we see a band that already had a very well-defined sound & who is very comfortable to stay within those parameters with the album once again being recorded at Florida's notorious Morrisound Studios with legendary death metal producer Scott Burns. All of Obituary's albums to the time had been recorded in this fashion so this was hardly a leap of faith. The band's lineup had remained the same as the one that saw original lead guitarist Allen West returning to the fold for "The End Complete" after Murphy had finished his duties with "Cause of Death" so there was definitely a lot of consistency around the Obituary machine at the time & when you first hear "World Demise" you won't be terribly surprised with what you hear initially. There are subtle differences on display that are worth discussing though. Obituary's first album "Slowly We Rot" saw them blending a doomy Celtic Frost sound with a thrashier & more up-tempo Slayer one. We'd seen the thrash influence easing a little over time but "World Demise" sees them predominantly steering away from their faster material, instead focusing on more restrained tempos with the groovier elements they'd worked into their riff structures being further amplified to become the main focal point & the Celtic Frost inspiration being further embraced & celebrated. The album still sounds very much like Obituary but they'd certainly limited their focus a little towards a groovier form of death metal that West would later take with him to his Six Feet Under project. The cover artwork indicated that Obituary might be starting to take a more socially conscious approach with their lyrics too & I tend to think that's got some merit to it although John Tardy had never been big on structured lyric sheets, instead tending to improvise with random words & phrases. The most noticeable addition to the Obituary sound though was the inclusion of a number of samples, some taking the form of industrial sounds that are layered over the death metal. While this is an interesting idea, I feel that the band have failed in that endeavour as these samples are poorly integrated & seem to be fairly random in the way they've been tossed into the mix. They really don't add anything to the music, instead only acting as more of a distraction than anything.

Despite these changes, if you were already a fan of Obituary then you'll feel very much at home with "World Demise". The rhythm section of bassist Frank Watkins & drummer Donald Tardy tie in so tightly with rhythm guitarist Trevor Peres that you'd be forgiven for thinking that they were conjoined twins. In fact, it's hard to argue with the idea that Obituary might have been the tightest death metal band on the planet at the time & when you toss in a wonderfully thick & heavy Scott Burns production then it can only lead to a positive outcome as far as I'm concerned. Frank & Donald provide the perfect platform for the endless string of heavy-weight Peres riffs that Obituary have built their career on while John Tardy was at the pinnacle of his powers at this point with his delivery sounding as monstrous & pissed-off as we'd ever heard from him before. Allen West's lead guitar performance is the clear weak point for me personally as I've never thought he was much of a talent on his chosen instrument. James Murphy's insane melodic solos on "Cause of Death" had only provided further weight to my pre-existing opinion that a top-level shredder could take the band to all new levels & it seems a shame that West's return had seen that potential being limited.

The tracklisting is very solid indeed & I've found myself enjoying all twelve tracks included. There are a couple of less impressive numbers in the super-groovy "Redefine" & the more basic "Lost" but the tight performances & excellent production job still give those numbers a level of enjoyment that makes them more than acceptable. The remaining ten songs are all excellent, if not terribly different from Obituary's previous work with the riffs & vocals feeling fairly familiar for the most part. There are a couple of absolute gems here though with "Paralyzing" comparing very well to past glories & the incredible closer "Kill For Me" sitting amongst Obituary's finest work. My copy of the album contained a bonus track called "Killing Victims Found" which sounds a little closer to Obituary's previous albums but is also very good & I can't help but think that the album would have been stronger if they'd replaced "Redefine" or "Lost" with it.

Overall, I can't deny that "World Demise" is the least impressive Obituary album to the time but I think it still sits fairly comfortably alongside "Slowly We Rot" & "The End Complete" to be honest so I would still suggest that it's heavily underrated & should be essential listening for fans of the band, particularly given that I don't think they've matched it in terms of consistency or quality in all the years since. This is one tight & chunky slab of Florida death metal that doesn't try to be anyone else but Obituary while still trying a few new ideas with varying levels of success. I can deal pretty easily with the groovier feel & still really enjoy "World Demise" a good thirty years later so I'd encourage fans of their earlier work to check it out if you haven't already.

For fans of Morgoth, Six Feet Under & Celtic Frost.

4/5

My early Obituary rankings look like this:

1. Cause of Death

2. The End Complete

3. Slowly We Rot

4. World Demise

5. Xecutioner's "1987 Demo"

6. Xecutioner's "1986 Demo"

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=4385e0a97ca8468f

Tracklisting:

01. Monstrosity – “Shapeless Domination” (from “In Dark Purity”, 1999) [Submitted by Karl]

02. Vader – “Blood of Kingu” (from “De Profundis”, 1996) [Submitted by Daniel]

03. Gruesome – “Frailty” (from “Frailty” single, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

04. Séance – “Skinless” (from “Saltrubbed Eyes”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Malevolent Creation – “Dominated Resurgency” (from “Stillborn”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

06. Pungent Stench – “Viva La Muerte” (from “Dirty Rhymes & Psychotronic Beats” E.P., 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

07. Dark Millennium – “Below The Holy Fatherlands” (from “Ashore The Celestial Burden”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

08. Grave – “Harvest Day” (from “Hating Life”, 1996) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

09. At The Gates – “Within” (from “The Red In The Sky Is Ours”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

10. Blood – “Dogmatize” (from “Impulse To Destroy”, 1989) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

11. Cancer – “Patchwork Destiny” (from “The Sins Of Mankind”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Necrot – “Cut The Chord” (from “Lifeless Birth”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

13. Miasma – “Baphomet” (from “Changes”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

14. Edge of Sanity – “The Spectral Sorrows/Darkday” (from “The Spectral Sorrows”, 1993) [Submitted by Karl]

15. Vital Remains – “I Am God” (from “Forever Underground”, 1997) [Submitted by Karl]

16. Liers In Wait – “Maleficent Dreamvoid” (from “Spiritually Uncontrolled Art” E.P., 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

17. Undeath – “Brandish The Blade” (from “More Insane”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

18. Brujeria – “Leyes Narcos” (from “Matando Gueros”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

19. Witch Vomit – “Endless Fall” (from “Funeral Sanctum”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

20. Bolt Thrower – “Eternal War” (from “Realm of Chaos”, 1989) [Submitted by Karl]

21. Spawn of Possession – “No Light Spared” (from “INcurso”, 2012) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

22. Inferi – “No Gods But Our Flesh” (from “Vile Genesis”, 2021) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

23. Dehumanized – “P.C.C.R.” (from “Beyond The Mind”, 2016) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

24. Dying Fetus – “Unbridled Fury” (from “Make Them Beg For Death”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

25. Putrid Pile – “Severed Head Memento” (from “Collection of Butchery”, 2003) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

26. Suffocation – “Depths of Depravity” (from “Pierced From Within”, 1995) [Submitted by Karl]

27. Brodequin – “Of Pillars & Trees” (from “Harbinger of Woe”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

Now, I have never been one to judge an album by its cover, but one look at the name "Witch Vomit" and I was less than surprised when I heard Funeral Sanctum. It almost sounds like a fake name; perhaps even A.I. generated to sound brutal, but when spoken aloud just sounds fucking stupid.

Apologies for the tangent, but I just don't think that the band name should be ignored in this case. Especially when you consider the content of what's found inside Funeral Sanctum as a fairly straightforward approach to old school death metal. I enjoyed the instrumental production since it expands the individual songs and their diverse textures and flows. About half of this record has solid hooks and riffs and decent song composition, but another half of the album just feels like inconsequential riff fests. The vocals are also a fairly mute point since they return to Cookie Monster delivery, leaving the content severely lacking. The percussion is solid most of the time, but the way in which the kick drum is mixed leaves it sounding like the album is constantly slowing down. And the record holds its best moments during the first half of the recording and I start to notice sizeable dropoffs in quality in the back half, which are not helped at all by the two interlude tracks "Endarkened Spirits" and "Abject Silence (Interlude)" one after the other. And just to add icing to the cake, Funeral Sanctum is produced through 20 Buck Spin records.

I do not really resonate with old school death metal as much as other MA contributors do, but I can appreciate Funeral Sanctum for a decent, if not patchy mix, decent songwriting and a punchy runtime, making it so the relentless death metal does not become overwhelming. But as an enjoyer of the melodic side of the genre, Funeral Sanctum is missing many of the key aspects that make a death metal album great. It just isn't for me.

3/5

Besides listening to Time II, I was also checking out one of Jari Mäenpää's demo albums from the massive Time Package boxset. In case you didn't know, the Time Package includes 5 albums of early demos recorded by Mäenpää, dating back to the 90s. There's also a planned 4-album series to follow up from Time II that is said to only happen with the help of fans. We don't know if that upcoming 4-album series will be just re-recording of all those demos, but that's what I'm hoping for, fingers crossed. Anyway, Fantasy Metal Project was written and recorded by Mäenpää between 1998 and 2000. The songs remind me of Wintersun's debut, and I'm sure there's one band that would come to minds of many Finnish E-tuned folk/power/melodeath listeners, Ensiferum. This was back when Jari was still with Ensiferum before he left to focus on Wintersun before the release of both bands' 2004 albums, so he had a lot of fantasy in mind when making his own separate material. One thing to note is, of the 10 songs here, only half that amount of songs have vocals. I think it would've been better if a couple long instrumentals, specifically "Hunters of the Misty Forests" and "Raise Your Swords", had some lyrics. Created by me, maybe? So yeah, Wintersun fans should definitely listen to this offering and support Jari in making his future 4-album series a reality!

4/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=cc9a619b9fc2438b

Tracklisting:

01. Misery Index – “New Salem” (from “Rituals of Power”, 2019) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

02. Blood Red Throne – “We All Bleed” (from “Imperial Congregation”, 2021) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

03. Sinister – “Compulsory Resignation” (from “Cross The Styx”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

04. Malevolent Creation – “Eve of the Apocolypse” (from “Retribution”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Creeping Death – “Relics From The Past” (from “The Edge Of Existence”, 2021) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

06. Obscura – Noospheres” (from “Cosmogenesis”, 2009) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

07. Intestine Baalism – “Cannibal Sodom” (from “An Anatomy Of The Beast”, 1997) [Submitted by Karl]

08. Amorphis – “The Pilgrimage” (from “The Karelian Isthmus”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

09. Unanimated – “Die Alone” (from “Ancient God Of Evil”, 1995) [Submitted by Karl]

10. Bolt Thrower – “Return From Chaos” (from “Mercenary”, 1998) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

11. Obituary – “Rotting Ways” (from “The End Complete”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Gorefest – “State of Mind” (from “False”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Apparition – “Excruciating Refuge in Recurring Torment” (from “Disgraced Emanations From A Tranquil State”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

14. Dismember – “Tragedy of the Faithful” (from “Where Ironcrosses Grow”, 2004) [Submitted by Karl]

15. Infester – “Darkness Unveiled” (from “Darkness Unveiled” demo, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

16. Decapitated – “Kill The Cult” (from “Anticult”, 2017) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

17. Necrophagist – “Symbiotic in Theory” (from “Epitaph”, 2004) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

18. Skelethal – “Spectrum of Morbidity” (from “Within Corrosive Continuums”, 2024) [Submitted by Karl]

19. Unholy Redeemer – “Halo of Flies” (from “A Fever To Dethrone All Kings” demo, 2023) [Submitted by Daniel]

20. Carcass – “Tools of the Trade” (from “Tools of the Trade” E.P., 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

21. Brutality – “Subjected to Torture” (from “In Mourning”, 1996) [Submitted by Karl]

22. Pig Destroyer – “Trojan Whore” (from “Prowler In The Yard”, 2001) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

23. Civerous – “Maze Envy” (from “Maze Envy”, 2024) [Submitted by Daniel]

24. Cryptopsy – “Abigor” (from “Blasphemy Made Flesh”, 1994) [Submitted by Karl]

25. Abominible Putridity – “A Burial For The Abandoned” (from “The Anomalies of Artificial Origin”, 2012) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

26. Corpse Pile – “Fuck Your Life” (from “Hardgore Deathmetal”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

Cheers, man, that's very nice to hear. In fact, Obituary is responsible for my induction into conventional death metal as well, with "Cause of Death" being the first-ever OSDM release I truly loved in full. Shortly after, I backtracked to the debut and branched into "Leprosy" and "Consuming Impulse", thus completing my initial stack of death metal goodness I would then proceed to listen to 24/7 for quite a while. As for Ulcerate... Well, I think it might take a miracle to dethrone it as far as album of the year goes :-)

Andi, the "Dethroned Emperor" cover version wasn't a part of the album as far as I recall. I'd suggest that it's a bonus track that's been added in more modern times. I completely agree that there's no deathcore on offer here though.

You're right about that, Daniel. The "Dethroned Emperor" cover was added to the 2001 reissue that includes the Passive Backseat Demon Engines EP as bonus tracks. Though some earlier versions have "Dethroned Emperor" as an untitled hidden track, after "My Grain" and "Nails" which are indexed as one track.

I would probably talk about the pointless 30-second sh*t that is "Ultra-Mild", but ultimately I chose a full song that is this cover of Celtic Frost's "Dethrone Emperor", in which despite staying true to its original sound, they really f***ed it up and it's perhaps the worst cover in that otherwise enjoyable category:

Absu - "Barathrum: V.I.T.R.I.O.L." (1993)

I've always quite enjoyed the down-tuned early Immolation death metal meets Darkthrone black metal feel of this album. It's got a dark & evil atmosphere & the production really reminds me of my tape-trading days in the late 80s/early 90s. Proscriptor's drumming is probably the highlight for me. I'm not too keen on the female vocal stuff & the keyboards are very primitive but I dig the raw brutality of this record. It may be my favourite Absu release actually.

3.5/5

Here's my review:

Sweden's In Mourning would make my acquaintance fairly early on in their recording career off the back of this month's The Horde feature release "Shrouded Divine" which represents their initial foray into the full-length album format. The record had been floating around for roughly a year by the time I revitalized my interest in metal & began progressively exploring every new extreme metal release of any significance, at which time I discovered that In Mourning had a bit about them which would ultimately prove to be enough to see me investigating each of In Mourning's five subsequent albums as they came to fruition. There have certainly been some that appealed to me more than others as I wasn't much of a fan of 2010's "Monolith" sophomore record yet regard its 2012 follow-up "The Weight of Oceans" as one of the better melodic death metal records I've ever heard but there are few that would deny the class that these artists exude in the way they go about things. Interestingly though, I don't think I've returned to "Shrouded Divine" in the fifteen years since I first wrapped my ears around it & I was wondering whether that might be a telling fact going into this week's revisit. Let's find out.

If I'm being completely transparent then I'll have to admit that "Shrouded Divine" took me a bit of time to warm up to on this occasion, perhaps due to the fact that my first listen came immediately after the very strong Blut aus Nord The North clan feature release "Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With the Stars" which resides much further within my wheelhouse. In Mourning simply sounded a little lightweight in comparison but subsequent listens saw the album starting to open up a bit for me & by the end of my third spin I could clearly see the appeal in this professionally produced & executed extreme metal record. Despite the consistent labelling of In Mourning as a melodic death metal band, "Shrouded Divine" doesn't offer much in the way of death metal at all to be honest. In fact, I'd suggest that the ties with the melodeath sound are tenuous at best given that the tag is intended to draw together releases that share a complex harmony-driven sound. In Mourning's early sound was much more in line with the progressive metal of Opeth & if you take away the very deep & gutteral vocals of guitarist Tobias Netzell (formerly of Swedish doom/death act October Tide & progressive rock/metal outfit Thenighttimeproject) then you'll find that In Mourning have a lot more in common with Dream Theater than they do At The Gates so the album is best suited to an "extreme progressive metal" tag in my opinion. I feel that the tendency to want to find a death metal subgenre to associate with the album is mainly to differentiate it from the Fates Warnings & Queensryches more than it is to throw In Mourning in with the Dark Tranquillitys & In Flames'.

In Mourning have pulled their sound together very nicely when you consider that this was their first studio effort. The musicianship is all of a high quality & there's an impressive level of cohesion that sees the sum of the various parts amounting to significantly more than they may have in isolation. There are a couple of elements that don't sit as well with me though to be fair. The occasional use of blast-beats from drummer Christian Netzell is largely nullified by his drum sound which leaves them sounding like he's tapping away on a matchbox. The use of screamier vocals for a bit of variety was a nice idea in theory but these ones sound like they would have fit very comfortably on a generic deathcore record. Unlike Ben though, I actually think the clean vocals are a nice touch & provide some welcome variation. Despite being a progressive band, In Mourning aren't the most complex example you'll find & they don't take too many other risks either with many off their riffs sounding fairly familiar. You won't struggle to recall the signature Opeth octave chords or the rhythmic bottom-string djent riffs that were so popular at the time while listening to "Shrouded Divine". Thankfully though, In Mourning pull it all off with aplomb in what is generally a very tight, finely-honed debut effort.

Most progressive metal fans should find the tracklisting on "Shrouded Divine" to be pretty consistent once they've given the record the time to sink its teeth in a bit. In fact, I don't think there's a weak track included as such. There aren't really enough genuine highlights to see me feeling like returning to the album all that often though either & that's perhaps the record's biggest detractor for me personally. It certainly sounds very pleasant & quite accessible for an extreme metal release. It doesn't get my blood pumping all that often though & that's the difference between a release that draws me back time & time again & one that I maintain a fondness for without ever really feeling the urge to return to. "Amnesia", "By Others Considered" & (my personal favourite) closer "Past October Skies (The Black Lodge Revisited)" are my pick of the bunch & are all very solid examples of their type but I'd question whether any of them should be granted access into my Hall of Metal Glory for all eternity. They're certainly nothing to be scoffed at though & I can very easily see why a record like this one might appeal to my brother much more than it might to my blackened soul.

At the end of the day, "Shrouded Divine" was a pretty good way to kick off a recording career as it provided a solid platform for In Mourning to build & improve on over the many years since. It's perhaps been relegated to the reserve bench a bit since I heard 2012's "The Weight of Oceans" a few years later but I don't think many fans of extreme progressive metal will struggle to find the appeal in a record like this one & I'd suggest that it still sits in the top half of the band's back catalogue overall.

For fans of Barren Earth, In Vain & Persefone.

3.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=75c89d5e349b41e4

Tracklisting:

01. Slugdge – “Slave Goo World” (from “Esoteric Malacology”, 2018) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

02. Vomitory – “The Dead Awaken” (from “Opus Mortis VIII”, 2011) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

03. Malevolent Creation – “Multiple Stab Wounds” (from “The Ten Commandments”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

04. Immolation – “Those Left Behind” (from “Dawn of Possession”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Asphyx – “Diabolical Existence” (from “The Rack”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

06. PainKiller – “Warhead” (from “Guts of a Virgin”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

07. The Chasm – “Storm of Revelations” (from “Procession to the Infraworld”, 2000) [Submitted by Sonny]

08. Comecon – “Omnivorous Excess” (from “Megatrends in Brutality”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

09. My Dying Bride – “Erotic Literature” (from “As The Flower Withers”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

10. Pungent Stench – “Games of Humiliation” (from “Been Caught Buttering”, 1991) [Submitted by Sonny]

11. Autopsy – “Destined to Fester” (from “Retribution For The Dead” E.P., 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Pestilence – “Twisted Truth” (from “Testimony of the Ancients”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Adramelech – “As The Gods Succumbed” (from “Psychostasia”, 1996) [Submitted by Sonny]

14. Unleashed – “Before the Creation of Time” (from “Where No Life Dwells”, 1991) [Submitted by Sonny]

15. Fuming Mouth – “Timeless” (from “Daylight Again” single, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

16. Convulse – “Incantation of Restoration” (from “World Without God”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

17. Bolt Thrower – “Destructive Infinity” (from “War Master”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

18. Hypocrisy – “Suffering Souls” (from “Penetralia”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

19. Ulcerate – “Drawn Into The Next Void” (from “Stare Into Death & Be Still”, 2020) [Submitted by Sonny]

20. Mithras – “Behind The Shadows” (from “Behind the Shadows Lie Madness”, 2007) [Submitted by Sonny]

21. Eternal Rot – “Devouring Purge” (from “Anatomia/Eternal Rot” split album, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

22. Atræ Bilis – “A Kingdom of Cortisol” (from “Aumicide”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

23. Replicant – “Orgasm of Bereavement” (from “Infinite Mortality”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

24. Critical Defiance – “All The Powers” (from “The Search Won’t Fall”, 2024) [Submitted by Daniel]

25. Vredehammer – “From The Abyss” (from “God Slayer”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

26. Muldrotha – “Red in Tooth & Claw” (from “Red in Tooth & Claw” single, 2021) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

27. Defeated Sanity – “Generosity of the Deceased” (from “Disposal of the Dead/Dharmata”, 2016) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

Here's my review:

I was lucky enough to discover Vader very early on in their recording career with 1992’s “The Ultimate Incantation” debut album first crossing my path shortly after release & at a time when I was completely obsessed with death metal (which… let’s fact it… has never really changed, has it?). I quite liked it too although the fact that I haven’t returned to it since the 1990’s is probably a sign that its impact wasn’t as significant as some of the more classic death metal releases of the time. It did, however, do enough for me to see me seeking out its follow-up “De Profundis” as soon as it hit the streets as well as a couple of Vader’s earlier demos in 1989’s “Necrolust” & 1990’s “Morbid Reich”, both of which I got some enjoyment out of. “De Profundis” would be the record that would cement Vader as an artist worthy of deeper attention for me though so I’ve been excited to take another look at it this week.

Now, let’s get the obvious out of the way right from the start. “De Profundis” is a well-executed example of mid- 90’s death metal produced by a band that clearly possessed a strong pedigree in the extreme metal underground. The band can all play their instruments well & the production is more than acceptable. Those statements alone will generally be enough to ensure a strong score from me given my undeniable affiliations with the genre & era. The question has to be asked about Vader’s credentials for the higher tier ratings though & we're about to take a look at why.

For all the positives on display on “De Profundis”, the major elephant in the room is the fact that they are so clearly trying to emulate the most premium band in the entire global scene at the time in Morbid Angel. The worship is absolutely blatant at times with the riff structures, vocal style & phrasing, drumming & guitar solos all paying homage to the one & only Morbid Angel, a band that I was as obsessed with as any other artist in my life-time when “De Profundis” hit the streets. This leads to the question of whether Vader can compete on that lofty scale & the answer is a categorical no which immediately limits Vader’s scoring potential given that they’ve been relegated to tier two status right from the get-go. The class in their execution & the consistency in their song-writing ability are their feathers in both caps though & Vader draw upon both of those attributes to create a high-quality (if a touch generic) death metal record.

The vocals of front man Piotr Wiwczarek are worth discussing because they’re slightly different to what you would usually expect from a death metal band. His tone is simply not as monstrous or growly, perhaps even semi-clean, & I see this as a slight weakness if I’m being honest. His intelligibility could be argued to be a strength though as it gives Vader a level of accessibility that some of their peers are not always afforded. There are plenty of blast-beats on offer & Morbid Angel’s Pete Sandoval has clearly been an influence on drummer Krzysztof Raczkowski although he lacks the unparalleled power, control & precision of his idol. The guitar solos are probably the highlight of the record for me & we once again see Morbid Angel being the major influence here with Trey Azagthoth’s psychotic chaos being reflected pretty accurately here & with great effect too just quietly. I love the sheer over-the-top energy they bring to proceedings & can accept the similarities to the man who was very much my own personal idol at the time.

One of the real strengths of “De Profundis” is the consistent quality in the song-writing with the tracklisting being very consistent & offering no weak tracks as such. It doesn’t, however, offer as many highlights as I would generally need from an elite death metal release with only the outstanding “Blood of Kingu” (I’m assuming yet another reference to Morbid Angel’s lyrics) being the clear classic of the nine songs. “Of Moon, Blood, Dream & Me” stands out as the weaker number included & is affected by Wiwczarek’s vocal performance which seems to struggle a bit at times but it’s still worth a few listens & isn’t a major distraction.

Look, despite the fact that “De Profundis” doesn’t attempt anything majorly new & targets one band’s sound in particular, I can’t deny that I fucking love that sound so I was always going to find a lot of entertainment in Vader’s sophomore effort. In fact, I’d suggest that it may well be the Pole’s best full-length overall although I do tend to reach for their 2005 “The Art of War” E.P. as my go-to Vader release these days. I can’t see too many battle-hardened death metal fanatics not getting some jollies out of this one.

For fans of Morbid Angel, Hate & Malevolent Creation.

4/5

 (Symbolic)

 (Zombie Ritual)

Gotcha bro I gues if the site has a heavy focus on reviews we need clearer guidlines both about the rating system and the criteria that needs to be covered in a review. Otherwise we are all just taking shots in the dark. The numbers and such aren't any good if we don't some kind of universal understanding.

Thanks mate. I think it'll work better this way moving forwards so I'll be continuing in that fashion. It simply means that I'm not including any tracks that haven't been fully vetted by a knowledgeable party purely in the interest of variety. Variety isn't as important as quality. If anyone else wants to proceed with their clan playlists in this manner then I'd support it.

I'm across about two thirds of the Illdisposed back catalogue Andi. I remember picking up "There's Something Rotten... In the State of Denmark" back in my tape trading days & got some mild enjoyment out of it. I liked their earlier & more conventional death metal albums a little better unsurprisingly enough.

This was my short review from many years ago now & it's stood the test of time with "Tools of the Trade" still proving itself to be a solid inclusion in the Carcass back catalogue. In fact, I'd suggest that I now place it alongside "Heartwork" on the second shelf beneath the wonderful "Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious" which is one of my all-time favourite releases from any genre.

I've always found this little E.P. to be an invaluable part of any serious Carcass fan's collection. Sure it only features one brand new track but it still has plenty to offer. Not only is the title track an absolute cracker but you also get the album version of "Incarnated Solvent Abuse" (arguably their career highlight) as well as re-recorded versions of two early Carcass songs that had not previously had the opportunity to be presented with a decent production. The fresh versions of "Pyosisified (Rotten To The Gore") & "Hepatic Tissue Fermentation II" are great improvements on the originals in my opinion. The fact that the tracks all seem to have been recorded during the "Necroticism" sessions is also a welcome bonus as it makes for a more even & flowing listening experience; a trait that isn't always made a priority when putting together EPs like this one.

4/5

Full of Hell - Coagulated Bliss (2024

Genres: Grindcore, Metal

You read the genre-tagging right.  I'm calling this "metal" on top of calling it a grindcore album because for a good portion of the album, it is so diversified and out-there that it's a difficult one to really peg down.  I'm getting switches between some thought-provoking noise rock, drawn out and brutal doom metal with noisy metalcore backdrops, black and death working in tandem and even a little sludgy stuff here and there.  This is Full of Hell going batshit insane, but with catchiness and accessibility covering it all so it never goes too far like Naked City's Torture Garden.  Full of Hell have always been one of the most artistic bands of the modern age.  They helped to justify the existence of the otherwise passable Merzbow with their collabs, Sister Fawn and the self-titled collab, the former of which was my number 1 FoH and the latter of which was my number 3.  The album goes for more straightforward grindcore on a more consistent level after the seven-minute doomy epic Bleeding Horizon ends side A, but the first half is organized chaos, justifying its directionless genre-bending with the bandmates's personas dominating the album's brutal presence.

Of course, it's safe to say that half the tracks are grindcore, warranting the tag, but with that seven minute epic steering closer to that joke of a genre tag RYM calls "downtempo deathcore" than anything, it's safe to say that this album covers the multitude of bases within the realms of extreme metal and metal punk hybrids, with thrash and crossover thrash being absent, and leaving room for some Orchid-style powerviolence.  It's highly accessible despite its plethora of metallic flavors, so I think the best tag for this album would either be "metal" or "extreme metal" as opposed to choosing any one specific genre.  I think to do otherwise might be a little insulting to this testament to FoH's metal cabapilities.  Although next time, I'd like to see them do this and incorporate some of the industrial sounds of Sister Fawn. Otherwise, this album is basically FoH's "When the Kite String Pops."

100/100

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=addda1a87c2c4fac

Tracklisting:

01. Afterbirth – “Hovering Human Head Drones” (from “In But Not Of”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

02. Imperial Triumphant – “Lower World” (from “Vile Luxury”, 2018)

03. Eucharist – “Mirrorworlds” (from “Mirrorworlds”, 1997)

04. StarGazer – “Old Tea” (from “A Merging To The Boundless”, 2014) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

05. Edge of Sanity – “Hell Is Where The Heart Is” (from “Infernal”, 1997)

06. Pungent Stench – “Splatterday Nightfever” (from “Been Caught Buttering”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

07. Morgoth – “Cursed” (from “Cursed”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

08. Entombed – “Crawl” (from “Crawl” E.P., 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

09. Slimelord – “Gut-Brain Axis” (from “Chytridiomycosis Relinquished”, 2024) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

10. Massacre – “Succubus” (from “From Beyond”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Neuropath – “Vulgar Rebirth” (from “Nefarious Vivisection” demo, 1995) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Gorguts – “Inoculated Life” (from “Considered Dead”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Celestial Sanctuary – “Yearn For The Rot” (from “Soul Diminished”, 2021) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

14. Magefa – “Amputated By Force” (from “New Era Of Darkness”, 2019) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

15. Deconsekrated – “The Axiom” (from “The Hidden Paths” E.P., 2020) [Submitted by Sonny]

16. Napalm Death – “Mass Appeal Madness” (from “Mass Appeal Madness” E.P., 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

17. Sketetal Remains – “Unmerciful” (from “Fragments of the Ageless”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

18. Mortician – “Mortician” (from “Hacked Up For Barbecue”, 1996) [Submitted by Sonny]

19. Coffins – “Domains of Black Miasma” (from “Sinister Oath”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

20. ZOMBIESHARK! – “Loxosceles on the Isosceles” (from “Die Laughing.”, 2024)

21. Septage – “Intolerant Spree of Infesting Forms (Septic Worship)” (from “Septic Worship (Intolerant Spree of Infesting Forms), 2024)

22. Gadget – “Remote” (from “Remote”, 2004)

23. Nightmarer – “Skinner” (from “Cacophony of Terror”, 2018)

24. Defaced Creation – “Baptised in Fire” (from “Serenity in Chaos”, 1999)

25. Kraanium – “Rock Filled Orifice” (from “Chronicles of Perversion”, 2015)

26. Kuroi Jukai – “II” (from “Kuroi Jukai”, 2015)

27. Ultra Vomit – “Une souris verte” (from “M. Patate”, 2004)

28. Vulvodynia – “Raped, Pillaged & Gutted” (from “Finis Omnium Ignorantiam”, 2015)

29. Coldworker – “The Crawl Inside Me Uninvited” (from “The Contaminated Void”, 2006)

30. Hour of Penance – “The Ravenous Herald” (from “Devotion”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

Here's my review:

Florida technical death metallers Nocturnus were a fairly big player in our household from very early on in their recording career. I was lucky enough to discover their 1990 debut album “The Key” shortly after it was released & purchased a copy on cassette. It showcased a highly ambitious band of talented musicians that were looking to push the envelope when it came to both atmospherics, imagery & technique & I found it to be a very solid release indeed. Perhaps not the undeniable classic that many death metal fans will have you believe it is but a worthy purchase that has commanded consistent revisits over the years. 1992’s follow-up album “Thresholds” simply wasn’t in the same caliber from what I remember of it although it was certainly worth a listen at the time & didn’t discourage me from picking up this month’s The Horde feature release (i.e. Nocturnus’ self-titled 7” from 1993) on vinyl immediately after it was released. I don’t remember much about it now to be honest & have no idea what happened to the record I owned but I do recall being a touch underwhelmed even if I certainly found entertainment in it. I’m interested to see how those recollections stack up now actually as I recently revisited “The Key” & it’s renewed my interest.

The ”Nocturnus” 7” is nothing more than a two-song single but includes two previously unreleased non-album tracks intended to showcase the band’s brand new lineup. Bassist Emo Mowery had now filled the empty position that was filled by session musician Chris Anderson on the “Thresholds” album while James Marcinek had now joined the fold at the expense of founding member & band leader Mike Browning (Morbid Angel/Acheron) who had been controversially axed. The two songs take a similar stylistic approach to the one found on “The Key” but there are a few notable differences & characteristics that are worth pointing out.

The first & most obvious thing you’ll notice about this release is the shocking production job which is extremely rough & sees Nocturnus’ trademark flashy guitars being largely nullified. It’s a real shame because this flaw goes a long way to ensuring that the record was never going to have much of an impact, even if you absolutely loved the song-writing. Front man Dan Izzo had been brought in for the “Thresholds” album to enable Browning to focus purely on his drum kit. Here we see him trying awfully hard to sound like notorious Deicide vocalist Glen Benton & doing a reasonable job of it too. In fact, I’d have to suggest that it was a good move to swap him in for Browning as his more angry & aggressive delivery would seem to me to be a better fit for a death metal band. So would the drumming of Marcinek actually, at least I’d take it over the simplistic contribution that Browning gave us on “The Key”. The keyboards of Louis Panzer are still on show but don’t play as prominent a role in these compositions which was an interesting move given that this was one of the major drawcards that was seeing people flocking to Nocturnus. The other was the consistent layers of ultra-shredding guitar solos that were a majorly exciting prospect for this budding young lead guitarist but, once again, the solos have been toned down significantly here which I find to be a really strange decision. Perhaps that’s why we’ve seen these two tracks isolated on a dedicated single? I dunno but it was pretty annoying that Nocturnus had dropped a good chunk of their signature features.

When taken for what they are though, these two songs aren’t too bad & certainly offer enough to keep me interested & entertained. The lengthier “Possess The Priest” has a slight edge over the more aggressive “Mummified” but there’s not a lot between them as they’re both decent enough examples of the technical death metal subgenre. I’ve often seen people trying to utilize the progressive metal tag with this record but I don’t think that’s appropriate as this material is far more consciously technical than it is conceptually expansive. The riffs can sometimes be quite thrashy but I never feel that I’m listening to anything other than a death metal artist at any stage.

So, it would seem that the “Nocturnus” 7” single is bit of a mixture of positives & negatives overall, isn’t it? The production is arguably the most unfortunate & release-defining element but I’m pleased that Nocturnus possessed enough class to overcome that failure to give us a reasonable record nonetheless. Sadly, I can’t see it being enough to draw me back to the single at any point in the future but I don’t think your average Death. Atheist or Pestilence fan will find it to be too repulsive, even if it’s not on the same level as the universally worshipped releases that those bands were dishing out during that period. But then, I’m not sure I ever saw Nocturnus on the same level as those artists in the first place. Not many are though to be fair.

3.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=0f873b007fa541cb

Tracklisting:

01. Cenotaph – “Crying Frost” (from “Epic Rites: 9 Epic Tales & Death Rites”, 1996)

02. Children of Bodom – “Lake Bodom” (from “Something Wild”, 1997)

03. Hypocrisy – “Adjusting The Sun” (from “The Final Chapter”, 1997)

04. My Dying Bride – “Vast Choirs” (from “Towards The Sinister” demo, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Entombed – “But Life Goes On” (from “But Life Goes On” demo, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]

06. Neuropath – “Masticated Cadaver” (from “Nefarious Vivisection” demo, 1995) [Submitted by Daniel]

07. Benediction – “Jumping At Shadows” (from “The Grand Leveller”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

08. Unaussprechlichen Kulten – “Die teufelsbucher” (from “Häxan Sabaoth”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

09. Internal Bleeding – “Driven to Conquer” (from “Driven to Conquer”, 1999)

10. Theory in Practice – “The Visionnaire” (from “The Armageddon Theories”, 1999)

11. Pyrrhon – “The Invisible Hand Holds a Whip” (from “What Passes For Survival”, 2016)

12. Gutalax – “Toi Toi Story” (from “Shit Happens”, 2015)

13. Massacre – “Dawn of Eternity” (from “From Beyond”, 1991) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

14. Cancer – “Tasteless Incest” (from “Death Shall Rise”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

15. Coffins – “Hour of Execution” (from “Beyond The Circular Demise”, 2019) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

16. Verminous – “Salvation by Extermination” (from “Impious Sacrilege”, 2003) [Submitted by Sonny]

17. Found Dead Hanging – “Solar Powered Sun Destroyer” (from “Dulling Occams Razor” E.P., 2003)

18. Behemoth – “Here & Beyond” (from “Zos Kia Cultus (Here & beyond)”, 2002) [Submitted by Sonny]

19. The Ritual Aura – “Precursor of Aphotic Collapse” (from “Laniakea”, 2015) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

20. Incantation – “Blasphemy” (from “Blasphemy”, 2002) [Submitted by Sonny]

21. Contaminated – “Cosmic Shit Show” (from “Celebratory Beheading”, 2024) [Submitted by Sonny]

22. Mortician – “Redrum/Outro” (from “Mortal Massacre” single, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

23. Cannibal Corpse – “Frenzied Feeding” (from “Chaos Horrific”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

24. Malevolent Creation – “The Will To Kill” (from “The Will To Kill”, 2002) [Submitted by Sonny]

25. Tower of Rome – “They Say She Died Because She Was Too Honest” (from “All is Lost, All is Lost, All is Yet to be Found”, 2004)

26. Sete Star Sept – “Pilot Error Snooze” (from Beast World”, 2016)

27. Sissy Spacek – “Meat Slave” (from “Disfathom”, 2016)

28. Cephalic Carnage – “Zuno Gyakusatsu” (from “Lucid Interval”, 2002) [Submitted by Sonny]

29. Karmacipher – “Necroracle” (from “Necroracle”, 2016)

30. Fulci – “Gore Life” (from “Opening The Hell Gates”, 2015) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

31. Glossectomy – “Self Mangled Malformation” (from “Impediments From Dysplasia” E.P., 2014)

32. Hymenotomy – “Orgasm Achieved By Disemboweling Pregnant Women & Inserting Decapitated Fetuses Into Hairy Anus” (from “Some Necrophiles Having Sex With Naked Autopsied Bodies In the Morgue”, 2015)

I have a deep connection with Bolt Thrower that goes back to the earliest days of them appearing on John Peel's late night radio show which saw them becoming the only death metal band I got into prior to departing from metaldom at the beginning of the nineties. Despite the criticisms levelled against them, such as them producing the same album over and over, I have never bought into this view and think they are one of the most consistent bands in metal and have never produced a bad album. Anyway, here's my review:

Despite making a massive contribution to the birth of metal, the UK hasn't been overly blessed with important acts in the more extreme sub-genres. There were, of course, the twin grindcore godfathers, Napalm Death and Carcass and a few notables in the doom metal arena, but otherwise it has been the US and Europe that have led the way since the early 1980s. The sole exception and lone british banner fluttering among the death metal hordes, was Coventry's Bolt Thrower. War Master was the Midlanders' third album, following the rough and ready, crust and grind-influenced debut, In Battle There Is No Law! and it's much more professional sounding follow-up, Realm of Chaos, which had heralded a direction-change with the band moving into more conventional death metal territory. War Master saw Bolt Thrower heading further in that direction, ditching the grind element altogether in favour of a slower, mid-tempo, more cavernous sound that has more in common with Autopsy than fellow Brits like Carcass.

I must be honest at this point and admit that, for me, Realm of Chaos marks the band's highpoint, striking a perfect balance between the crusty grind of the debut and their later, conventional death metal sound, but that doesn't mean that War Master is any great drop-off in quality, in fact, quite the opposite as it is still one hell of a great record. The riffs on War Master are fantastic, possessing an inherent level of brutality, whilst still exhibiting a degree of melodicism which renders them instantly memorable. The songwriting is very good, and although most of the riffs stay within the mid-tempo range, the band don't shy away from either slowing down further to hulking, death doom pacing, or putting their foot down and letting rip. Karl Willetts has a great death metal growl, almost stripping paint as he barks out the lyrics which deal almost exclusively with the terrors of war, that puts him near the top of my list of favourite death metal vocalists. Production-wise War Master is a step up from Realm of Chaos with a chunkier, more bass-heavy sound that allows Jo Bench's four-string performance to shine and which is more conducive to this type of slower-paced, war-ridden death metal.

The solos are mostly of the brief, squealing style favoured by many death metal stalwarts since they were introduced by Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman back in the day and whilst they are perfectly functional and fit well within the song structures, they aren't on anything like the same level as the riffs. Despite seeing criticism of it elsewhere, I actually really like Andy Whale's drumming on here as it has tons of energy and some nice touches, such as the military tattoo-like beats at the end of Afterlife.

War Master saw Bolt Thrower finally getting near to a sound they were striving for and, as a result, they have often been accused of regurgitating the same material over and over again for the rest of their career, which is a bit harsh and personally I think is bullshit. When a band has hit on what they see as a signature sound, however, I am sure there is a temptation to plough the same furrow again on subsequent releases, and although BT never strayed far from the template they established on War Master, such is the quality of their material that only the most demanding or churlish of death metal fans could complain at the results. Evidently, this is a full-throated roar of challenge from a band in full command of their abilities, producing one of the best albums of their career and spearheading the British fightback against the scandinavian and american death metal hordes.

4.5/5

After a slow start getting the melodic stuff and the cybergrind out of the way, things picked up quickly and from track 5 onwards things looked much better with the filthy sound of Cryptworm leading the way. I have never listened to Anal Cunt before, mainly because I always thought they were supposed to be a bit of a joke band, but I actually quite liked this track, so never say never. Excellent stuff from Deicide, Disbelief, Plague of the Fallen and, of course, Neuropath. Good stuff too from Terrorizer, Mongrel, Horrifier, Nihilist and Napalm Death, so plenty of ammunition for further delving into The Horde's archives. The last two, like the first four, left me a bit cold, but overall this was another sterling playlist, so thanks for this, Daniel.

Wow! I've gotta say that the third full-length from these Finnish death metallers has well & truly blown me away which was perhaps somewhat inevitable given that it falls so clearly within my musical comfort zone. Gorephilia offer a dark & dank take on the classic 1990's death metal model with very little in the way of invention however they simply go about their craft so efficiently & effectively that I'm left feeling similar feelings to those that I first felt as an early teenager while discovering this great genre to begin with. The main influence is clearly classic Morbid Angel although (unlike Ben) I'd suggest that the era in question sits closer to "Blessed Are The Sick" & "Covenant" than it does to "Domination". Its actually pretty obvious a lot of the time too but the execution is nothing short of splendid which gives Gorephilia a strong sense of class & pedigree. Plus, there are a few more strings to Gorephilia's bow than that as they also possess a darker, murkier & slightly doomy Immolation/Incantation vibe that drags the atmosphere deeper into graveyard territory.

The guitar solos are perhaps the weak point as they lack a little finesse & often cross over into out-of-key territory but not in a way that feels intentional. It's more from a lack of understanding. The battering blast-beats, swampy yet powerful guitar tone & monstrous death growls more than make up for them though with the quality of the song-writing improving noticeably as the tracklisting progresses. "Devotion Upon the Worm", "Not for the Weak" & closer "Ark of the Undecipherable" are all devastating examples of modern death metal but the atmospheric interlude "Death Dream" is perhaps my favourite inclusion with its clean guitar arpeggios & eerie yet quite beautiful lead work providing a lovely change of scene before the final deathly assault. "In The Eye Of Nothing" is everything that a death metal band should aspire to be in my opinion & has been so successful in its undertaking that I'd even go so far as to sit it right alongside its more celebrated influences at the table of death metal's more elite performers.

4.5/5

Stortregn - "Finitude" (2023)

The sixth full-length from this Swiss outfit is arguably their best & has had me thoroughly engaged over the last couple of days. Forget the tech death talk that's floating around the internet as that tag is not expansive enough to cover Stortregn's sound which sits right in the middle of the space between melodic death metal & progressive death metal with smatterings of Dissection style melodic black metal also entering the equation to go with the really effective raspy blackened vocals. The level of musicianship is wonderfully proficient, particularly the drumming with the ultra-fast blast-beats being astoundingly tight & powerful. I'm not usually a big melodeath fan but I have to make an exception with "Finitude" as it gets the balance of extremity & ambition just right. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I would place it behind only At The Gates' magnificent "Slaughter of the Soul" record for the melodeath subgenre as a whole which I'm aware is a very big call.

4/5

A full single track EP Daniel.  I applaud this choice.  I love me some Gorguts!  I thoroughly enjoyed istening to this track through as the highlight of a list that was strong overall I thought.

You are never going to go too far wrong with a list containing Demilich, Nihilist, Darkthrone, Repulsion, Bolt Thrower, Carnage, Morbid Angel and Nile.   

So with the start of a new year it's once again time to have a look at the covers for all the releases for each clan. I personally like to rate a whole stack of covers all at once, rather than doing them one at a time throughout the year, as it allows me to get a better feel for where each cover sits in comparison to others. With that in mind, I've just rated every cover for releases in The Horde for 2023.

Below are the releases that are currently competing for the prestigious 2023 The Horde Cover of the Year Award (i.e. they rate at least 3.7 and have 3 or more ratings). The winner will be announced on the 1st of February, so there's still time to get your ratings in.

Neuropath - At Damnation's Core

Bodyfarm - Ultimate Abomination

Demon King - Vesania

Sulphur Aeon - Seven Crowns and Seven Seals

Catacomb - When the Stars Are Right

Suotana - Ounas I

7 H.Target - Yantra Creating

Fires in the Distance - Air Not Meant for Us

Darkthrone - Goatlord: Original

If you want to contribute and rate some covers, the easiest way is to go to The Gallery and select The Horde and 2023.

https://metal.academy/gallery?cid=4&type=overall_cover_rating&myRating=&fromYear=2023&toYear=2023&exclude=0

I look forward to seeing which release gets up for the win!

Still a quiet week at work this week so managed to get through all of the playlists for my clans before end of first week of Jan.  From this list I still confess to being in a bit of a rut with death metal of late so I did skip a few tracks (Epiphanic Truth, Pyrrhon, Amon Amarth, Anata and Sacrilege all got short shrift).  My positives came in the form of Edge of Sanity, Setentia,  Neuropath and Death.  I have zero time for Cattle Decapitation though, have never understood the hype around the band at all and this track did nothing to change that opinion.

I cannot lay any claim to being a source of much knowledge when it comes to death metal, having come to it quite late on. I turned away from metal during the nineties and was listening to hardly any, let alone the burgeoning death metal scene, at the time of the release of Neuropath's two demos in '95 and '96 that make up the contents of this compilation. Luckily for us all, we have the inside track on this release from the horse's mouth, so to speak, in the shape of Academy co-creator Daniel, lead guitarist and songwriter with the Sydney brutal DM pathfinders. From the CD liner notes and the interview with Hessian Firm, it is apparent that Daniel and vocalist Mark see the evolution between the earlier demo, Nefarious Vivisection, and the later, Desert of Excruciation, as a quantum leap in both technical and songwriting abilities. I certainly would not disagree with this assessment as the technical skills on show are obviously much improved and the songwriting has matured with an increased emphasis on technicality and complexity that is testament to the hard work and dedication that the guys put into the band during what amounts to just a few months between the recording of the two demos.

Now I don't know if Daniel and the rest of the band may consider this blasphemous, but I must sheepishly admit that I like the tracks from Nefarious Vivisection a bit more than the Desert of Excruciation material. I guess it has become apparent that I am a bit of a caveman when it comes to my taste in metal, the more technical, avant-garde, experimental stuff often leaves me cold and I would much rather have something relentlessly brutal and bludgeoning than any number of time-changes and finger-knotting guitar leads and to this end Nefarious Vivisection fills my criteria perfectly. The filthy-sounding riffs stick in my head better than the more complex stuff of the DoE tracks, Masticated Cadaver and the closer here, Rectal Palpitation, being the favourites that stick with me most. Then the clincher is the absolutely fucking brutal vocals supplied by Mark that are some of the best death metal vocals I have ever heard, rivalling Reifert, Vincent, Chuck and even Demilich's Antti Boman.

I really love digging through early metal demos and, sure, there are a lot of poorly-recorded shit out there, but sometimes you find a genuine pearl or two and I would suggest that is exactly what we have here, a rugged, uncut death metal diamond. I now have a CD copy with pride of place in my collection, nestling next to Diabolical Conquest and Altars of Madness where it belongs!

4.5/5

I will get around to a full Neuropath album review eventually but this track underlines the Suffocation influence brilliantly for me.  The diving guitars and stop/start rhythms are great.

I'm not surprised that you've picked up the clear Suffocation influence in that particular track either as it was the last song I wrote for the "Desert of Excruciation" demo & "Pierced From Within" was the biggest release for me that year. I'm sure everyone's well aware that they're still my favourite band to this day too.

For the record, I share your struggles with the melodic death metal subgenre too.

I've done my review. Here's its summary:

I felt up to facing one of my worst enemies, the heavier side of death metal. This is the kind of devilish aggression I'm normally in a feud with, and yet I can't help but take it on. The chaotic nature smashes me around and leaves me breathless. It's so horrifying yet so good! OK, I have to agree that this isn't death metal per se. Imagine blending together the standard death metal that you might find in 90s Hypocrisy and Bolt Thrower with the sludgy side of Neurosis and Will Haven, and a bit of Entombed's Wolverine Blues. You end up getting an excellent extreme death 'n' roll/sludge/groove metal sound, that barely any other band has tried, with songs ranging from sludgy and melancholic, to dynamic and groove-filled, to deathly while still melodic but not overly melodic, all in monstrous guitars, annihilating bass, devastating drums, and inhumane vocals. So get ready to face a true powerful beast!

4.5/5