Kingdom - Rotting Carcass Arise upon the Burial Mound

KINGDOM - Rotting Carcass Arise upon the Burial Mound (GODZ OV WAR Productions CD 2019)

God damn, is the time flying so fast or is it Kingdom, who are so bloody productive? Both I guess, but the truth is that since 2013's "Morbid Priest of Supreme Blasphemy" Kingdom already attacked us with four albums. "Rotting Carcass Arise upon the Burial Mound" was quite unexpected, because I barely cleaned the mess, which "Putrescent Remains of the Dead Ground" (2018) left. But I'm not moaning about that, it's good to see this band in such a good form. 

Honestly, "Rotting Carcass Arise upon the Burial Mound" doesn't surprise with anything. And if you've ever heard any of Kingdom's previous albums, then you should know exactly what to expect from this bastard. In case you never had a chance to hear Kingdom before, let me simply say that they play this bestial, venomous quite brutal but harsh death metal, with small hint of black metal there as well. Definitely Kingdom are not a band for those, who like to hear melodic parts, more "sophisticated" patterns, more catchy and groovy stuff. Their music is raw as hell, it smells like sulphur and cadaver, is filled with blasphemy and torment... And definitely is not pleasant. I think that the harshness and almost noisy sound gives Kingdom music quite a specific, almost chaotic, character, which I think was absolutely intentional and now became a trademark for this band. 

As previously, Kingdom often blasts like crazy, not taking prisoners, but slaying everything on its way with furious riffage and proper fast drumming. "Dark Light Rising" is one of the prime examples for the savagery you will find in Kingdom's music. But they often slow things down, bringing more heaviness to their music, which is always good to hear. They keep it all raw, of course, but these slower parts have great, obscure atmosphere and bring more diversity, so the music doesn’t simply sound monotonous ("Świątynia zepsucia", “Burial Mound”). All this time Kingdom uses pretty simple patterns for arrangements, it really is as simple as possible, which also gives more straight forward and bestial feel. And I do like the bass work and sound of this album as well. 

And for the end of the album you'll get an interesting cover of the mighty "Baphomet's Throne". Well, at first it wasn't easy to recognize that it's this song, because it's completely derived of any keyboards - which in the original version play such an important role. So, you can imagine that Kingdom's version of this song is much rawer, more brutal and bestial. Is it good? Ehhhh, I'm not really excited, I don't think it's particularly good. It's OK, but it didn't give me the atmosphere of the original version... So, no, I don't like it that much. And it looks like it's my tradition now, not to like covers they do. I didn't like Immortal's cover on the previous album, I don't like Samael's. Who cares... Let's dig some graves. 

I like the consequence, with which Kingdom continues to record their albums. They do not look for anything new, they surely don't care if we like it or not... They just want to play this brutal shit as best as they can. If you happen to like their music, then it's a bonus. I do, even if "Rotting Carcass Arise upon the Burial Mound" is not their best onslaught. To be honest, it’s not something what you can listen to for few hours and every day. But I will not let this CD cover in dust anyway. 

Standout tracks: "Świątynia zepsucia", “Burial Mound” 

Verdict: 75/100