The Brutal Death Metal Thread

Defeated Sanity - "Psalms of the Moribund" (2007)

I always really enjoy these Germans & their highly complex brand of ultra-brutal death metal. I do have to admit that their appeal is capped at how far it can go with me though as I feel similarly about every subsequent release, mainly due to the unintelligible, slam-style nature of the vocals & the chaotic song-structures which tether on the verge of getting completely out of control most of the time. That's all a part of the appeal of a record like "Psalms of the Moribund" though of course & it's also a point of differentiation for Defeated Sanity in general. If you don't like technical metal music then this one isn't for you as it's about as gratuitously technical as they come & very much highlights the sort of death metal release that I feel should rightly be labelled as such rather than the Deaths, Atheists & Cynics which are all clearly more progressive than they are technical. I would also have to say that if you're a bit half-assed in your love for brutal death metal then you'll likely struggle with "Psalms of the Moribund" too as it's as in your face as any BDM release on the market. I would have liked a few more shredding guitar solos but hey... you can't have everything right? Well, I guess you can because... you know.... "Reign in Blood". "Psalms of the Moribund" may not be my favourite Defeated Sanity release but it's certainly in the discussion.

For fans of Disgorge, Wormed & Deeds of Flesh.

4/5

*** BEN, YOU HAVE THE COVER ART FOR THE FIRST TWO DEFEATED SANITY RELEASES AROUND THE WRONG WAY, YA SILLY DUFFER!!!

Suffocation - "Hymns From The Apocrypha" (2023)

I've had a good couple of years to get used to it now so I thought it was about time that I shared my thoughts on the latest release from my all-time favourite metal band. "Hymns From The Apocrypha" is the first Suffocation album not to include iconic front man Frank Mullen as the main vocalist with long-time live death grunter & Disgorge drummer Ricky Myers having finally taken over the studio duties. He does a very good job too although I think most would agree that Mullen is the slightly superior protagonist, at least for this band. Mullen does make an appearance though, guesting on the reenactment of "Breeding the Spawn" closer "Ignorant Deprivation" & interesting that it's his performance that sees that song being easily the least impressive inclusion on the album. Frank seems to have lost his depth & power so perhaps that's got something to do with his absence. The other eight tracks are all of a very high quality & are buoyed by one of the cleanest & more precise production jobs ever for a brutal death metal release. The New Yorkers don't attempt to reinvent the wheel but they easily prove that they're in a class all of their own in respect to the more brutal end of extreme metal with drummer Eric Morotti contributing a superb combination of technicality & brutality & becoming the clear album highlight. The guitar solos are noticeably less psychotic than we've come to expect & I have to say that this disappointed me a little but the same can't be said for the riffs which are suitably adrenaline-fueled with tracks like "Perpetual Deception", "Seraphim Enslavement" & "Descendants" sitting comfortably alongside Suffocation's best work. I don't think the song-writing is consistently enough at that level to justify the claims that this is Suffocation's best full-length since 1995's classic "Pierced From Within" as I regard 2006's self-titled & 2013's "Pinnacle of Bedlam" as legitimate death metal classics but I'd take "Hymns From The Apocrypha" over records like "Souls to Deny", "Blood Oath", "...Of the Dark Light" or even "Breeding the Spawn" these days. Few would expect a record of this quality from an extreme metal band of this ilk at this point in their career.

For fans of Dying Fetus, Cryptopsy & Nile.

4/5

Nithing - "Agonal Hymns" (2023)

The debut solo effort from Iniquitous Deeds/Vitriol drummer Matt Kilner is a strange, noisy, yet relentlessly brutal blastathon that doesn't sound much like anything you've heard before. Kilner employs unusual guitar effects in order to try to differentiate himself from the pack & it works for the most part. The clear weakness is his vocals though as there's been no attempt to enunciate words with the delivery not even sounding like their human, instead sitting somewhere between a pitch-shifted pig & water going down a sink. Still... repeat listens saw me finding the instrumentation to be intense enough to keep me interested without focus on the vocals, despite some sections descending into a sludgy pit of noise.

For fans of Trichomoniasis, Putridity & Iniquitous Deeds.

3.5/5

Dying Fetus - "Stop at Nothing" (2003)

Another Dying Fetus record, another decent (if middling) score from me. I inevitably feel very much the same about all of the Maryland brutal death metal establishment's releases in that they all offer some level of appeal for me with their relentless brutality but lose points for their style-over-substance approach to song-writing. "Stop at Nothing" (Dying Fetus' fourth full-length album) isn't their one of their strongest records but it is another very consistent one with the quality levels tending to stay very stable throughout with only disappointing close "Vengeance Unleashed" seeing my enjoyment factor dipping a little. The production isn't amazing with the drum sound being noticeably clicky which doesn't do drummer Erik Sayenga any favours. The dual vocal attack is in full effect though & I'm glad that John Gallagher & co. don't allow the practice session-style technicalities to get out of hand as I've never thought that they added a lot to Dying Fetus' sound to be honest. As always with a Dying Fetus record, their signature mid-tempo, hardcore-inspired slam riffs are a highlight &, despite its flaws, I don't think "Stop at Nothing" will lose too many of the band's pre-existing audience even if it's certainly nothing particularly special.

For fans of Suffocation, Misery Index & Skinless.

3.5/5

Defeated Sanity - "Passages into Deformity" (2013)

The fourth full-length from this highly consistent German brutal/technical death metal outfit is also their best in my opinion as it gets the balance between brutality & technicality just right which, when complimented by a suitably dense & dark production job, creates a slightly more accessible, if no less savage, result. The ridiculous musicianship & chaotic riff structures are still well in effect here but they sound just a little less like they're on the verge of wildly flailing out of control while the intelligible vocals of new front man Konstantin Lühring are a little easier to tolerate for long periods than some other brutal death metal gurglers. Still... there's something that stops me from ever reaching for my more elite ratings with this band &, in much the same way as Dying Fetus who I reviewed earlier this week, I get a strong feeling of groundhog day every time I assess a Defeated Sanity record with the result invariably ending up being the same.

For fans of Disgorge, Wormed & Deeds of Flesh.

4/5

Dying Fetus - "Descend into Depravity" (2009)

The sixth full-length from these Maryland-based death metallers is one of their more brutal & sports a clinically executed production job. It's also one of Dying Fetus' more technical records with a whole bunch of those pointless sweep-picking exercises I've always struggled with inserted into the song-writing for no real reason. Thankfully, the rest of the instrumentation is very entertaining & the dual vocal attack is some of their best work which sees "Descend into Depravity" sitting right in the middle of their back catalogue but once again failing to overcome that inevitable 3.5-star rating I always reach for with this band.

For fans of Suffocation, Misery Index & Skinless.

3.5/5

Cryptopsy - "As Gomorrah Burns" (2023)

The 2023 comeback record from Canadian death metallers Cryptopsy (their eighth full-length) was generally received in a pretty luke-warm fashion but is actually a really solid example of the brutal death metal subgenre as far as I can see. As with some of Cryptopsy's other releases, it's not as technical as people like to make out & shouldn't really qualify for tech death status. Instead, we find these guys playing in the space between brutal death metal & the conventional death metal of a band like Cannibal Corpse with the regular use of high-speed blast-beats being the element that sees them staying tied to BDM. The vocals of Matt McGachy are more than serviceable & benefit from a level of intelligibility that wasn't always valued by this band but the extra attention in this area has been well received by this particular listener. I also enjoy the flourishes of bass prowess from bassist Olivier Pinard (Neuraxis/Vengeful/Cattle Decapitation). My long-time bugbear with legendary extreme metal drummer Flo Mounier (Nader Sadek/Vltimas) is still evident at times as he has always had issues with the consistency of those ultra-fast blasts, this time with keeping his kick drums in time towards the end of each passage. It's not a big deal on this occasion though as the clean production job & the proficiency of the instrumentation around him is strong enough to ensure that "As Gomorrah Burns" ends up being one of Cryptopsy's best releases. You won't find anything particularly fresh or original here but I'm not sure that high-quality death metal always needs to be to tell you the truth. At least, it doesn't in my world & I've probably heard as much of the genre as anyone over the years.

For fans of Suffocation, Gorguts & Lykathea Aflame.

4/5

Nile - "Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka" (1998)

A very solid debut album from this South Carolina trio & one that shows a strong understanding of the death metal genre & what makes it so great. I really love the dark production job which further enhances the high-quality performances to make this a bit of a beast of a record. The middle eastern themes are perhaps not as prevalent as they would become in the future but that's never been the attraction to Nile for me personally. I just love the sheer relentlessness of this band & that's showcased beautifully here. Nile certainly have better records (see the classic "Annihilation of the Wicked", the excellent "Those Whom the Gods Detest" or the rock-solid "In Their Darkened Shrines" for example) but that shouldn't detract from death metal fans enjoying Nile's first-up effort as it still contains everything that makes these Americans a household name in extreme metal circles. In fact, I reckon I might even take this one over its 2000 follow-up "Black Seeds of Vengeance" these days, if by a fairly miniscule margin. Just listen to those over-the-top guitar solos which hark back to early Deicide. That's what death metal is all about guys.

For fans of Hate Eternal, Suffocation & Dying Fetus.

4/5