Putrid Yell / Soulrot - Putrid and Rotten: Past Life Horrors

PUTRID YELL / SOULROT - Putrid and Rotten: Past Life Horrors (EL CONJURO Records - CD 2018)

I love Chilean death metal scene, it belongs to my favourite, so you can easily guess that I try to grab as many recordings from there as possible. This split CD was a must have for me for that reason, but also because I already knew both participating bands and I really liked their music, so this split was a must have for me. And yes, even if there are two old demos on it, it is still pure pleasure to listen to it. 

Sooo, Putrid Yell comes up with their excellent "When Life Has Ceased" demo from 2013 (originally released on cassette only in very limited quantity) and I really do like this demo a lot. It has that killer Swedish death metal influence, which you can hear in many, many riffs Putrid Yell came up with, but also in the unmistakable guitar tone, atmosphere of the music and so on. It's always so hard for me to resist to such sounds, almost impossible not to enjoy it. Especially if bands such as Carnage or Nihilist / Entombed seem to be the biggest influences. And well, Putrid Yell really did damn solid material and I like this demo a lot. It's a lot of fun to hear such music. Do not expect it to shake your world, but you’ll find raw, obscure underground death metal with a great classic horror influence ("Re-Animator"!). Yeah, it's all what I need, even Impetigo cover is cool. 

I've already written a review for Soulrot's "Horrors From Beyond" demo few years back. And it was a flattering, positive opinion about one of my currently favourite Chilean death metal bands. I'm not gonna write all that again, let me just say that Soulrot sounds very raw and obscure on this demo, it really has that old school feel and is filled with darkness and morbid savagery. Songs like "Incorporeal Autopsy" are really damn fast too, so you can be sure that some necks will be broken after you hear this demo. Soulrot is a band I can especially recommend, their both albums are just a feast for death metal ears. Much better than this demo, to be fair, but “Horrors From Beyond” is also cool to have in collection. 

Verdict: 70/100

Cryptic Brood - Caustic Fetid Vomit

CRYPTIC BROOD - Caustic Fetid Vomit (LYCANTHROPIC CHANTS - 7"EP 2022)

It's sometimes difficult to keep up with all these new releases that appear every month. So, I somehow have missed the "Swollen with Rancid Phlegm" split between Cryptic Brood and Night Hag. But then I saw that there's a new seven-inch EP available, so I quickly got myself a copy. And here is "Caustic Fetid Vomit", destroying my stereo with two tracks. Since a seven-inch format belongs to my favourite, I have to say that it was a great pleasure to listen to Cryptic Brood in this short, yet fierce, form. 

Side A kicks off with the title track and it is exactly what you want to hear from these German zombies. It's filthy, disgusting, obscure and ugly, almost primitive death metal, which takes the Autopsy influence with full grasps, adding a bit of Repulsion, Impetigo, Anatomia, Repuked or whatever else to their style. This death metal has that gruesome horror-esque aura, it stinks like cadaver and has nothing pleasant. Sick vocals sound like tortured, riffs are sharp and aggressive, even though they are pretty memorable. It all sounds fuckin cool, in my opinion. And I really like that harsh, lo-fi production.  

Side B is titled "Grave of the Brood" and it says in the inlay that this song is an interpretation of "Graves of the Fathers" from Cryptopsy's debut LP "None So Vile". Honestly, I never paid much attention to this band, I heard a bit, but never liked it, never cared for more... So, I cannot say how does this "cover" sounds when compared to the original. No idea. Do I like "Grave of the Brood"? It is OK. There are some cool riffs in it, the atmosphere of this song and everything is close to what I like about Cryptic Brood, so even if it's not the best I've heard from them, it is solid. Does it make me want to find “None So Vile”? Nope. But as a side B song on a seven-inch, “Grave of the Brood” is not bad at all. 

Verdict: 70/100

Morgue - Lowest Depths of Misery

MORGUE - Lowest Depths of Misery (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2022)

It took me a while to find out which Morgue this is. You know, there are maybe twenty bands under that name in the Archives – either active and dead – but still, far too many. And I only like one Morgue – the US death metal legend, which did “Eroded Thoughts” LP some thirty years ago. When I finally recognized this Morgue, I also found out that I had one album from them (I realized that just minutes before I started writing this review). I had their “Doors of No Return” LP few years ago. I traded it for something else, because I just did not like it at all. And now I have “Lowest Depths of Misery” in my stereo. 

Hmmm, I don’t really remember anything from the previous album, since I have listened to it just few times and it was years ago. So, I will not make any attempts to compare both recordings nor I will make any more comments about “Doors of No Return” at all. As for “Lowest Depths of Misery”, well, I am afraid this album is also not my cup of beer. Sure, extreme metal it is. Sure, it has some death metal elements in the music, but I’m just more traditional kind of guy, so this sort of modern sounding death / grind / or whatever you’re gonna call it / not necessarily can speak to me. Obviously, I am far from immediately saying that it’s a garbage. It isn’t. Technically, everything here is top notch. Musicianship is outstanding. Their riffage and song structures are complex and dense, almost in the vein of such Hate Eternal or Gorguts, where the pummeling cannonade of progressive, chaotic and twisted riffs can break your teeth with its every sound. And the drumming... Damn, the drummer is just from the space. The whole music is intense and brutal, it’s fast and furious, but with a well thought arrangements that allow some space for slower, crushing parts. There's hell of a lot going on, sounds are attacking from every side, punching relentlessly and drilling in the mind of the listener. I actually do appreciate some of the stuff from “Lowest Depths...”, mostly when Morgue slows down. So, I can say that there’s some good music. I can give you “Polar Aftermath” as an example, with some almost Gojira like riffage that blows the shit. 

Buuutttt, as I mentioned, technically “Lowest Depths of Misery” is fine. It’s just not really my type of death metal I like to listen to. Maybe thing I dislike the most are screaming, shrieking vocals. They just annoy me as hell. A bit sterile production is also not my preferable. So, maybe if Morgue used more traditional death growls, then I would be able to appreciate their music more? Who knows. But it is as it is – pretty average piece of extreme metal, which I doubt will be coming back to my stereo that often. I actually prefer Corrupter and “Descent into Madness”, which Jerome and Magnus did few months earlier. “Lowest Depths...” is an album that you need to listen to few times and discover it. It isn’t an easy listen, at least it wasn’t for me. I think that my reaction to it also developed with every next spin. But I am ready to move on.

Verdict: 65/100

Graveyard Winds - Assault to the Coffin

GRAVEYARD WINDS - Assault to the Coffin (FALLEN TEMPLE - CD 2022)

I’m always excited to hear new South American death metal bands, because a lot of them have sort of unique feeling and atmosphere, which distinguish them from other parts of the world. It is not different with Graveyard Winds from Colombia, whose debut EP “Assault to the Coffin” has been intensely played for the past few hours. Right off the bat, I can say that I really like this material. OK, it is a bit short, with four songs only and I would love to hear a bit more, but on the other hand why complain, if something sounds so right and cool? 

What Graveyard Winds brings us is this mostly mid-paced chunky, heavy, yet memorable death metal with groovy and brutal riffs alike to Bolt Thrower, Benediction or Asphyx and with a bit of doom / death elements and some more melodic patterns here and there, thrown for even more interesting result. I need to mention the excellent song “De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tumilis”, which definitely has some of the best riffs and certainly the most impressive harmonic line from the entire album. This song has almost Swedish death metal touch with a bit of old Paradise Lost, but really beats many other bands, which try to play similar style of music. And it really caught my attention. But I think that Graveyard Winds came up with a strong songwriting on the whole EP. Sure, it is nothing innovative or remarkable, but I can say that there’s great songwriting, good diversity between the tempos or atmosphere of music and it all sounds smooth and interesting. The production is also decent, although I am not so fond of how the drums sound. I am suspecting they are programmed drums or something, which is why they sound as they sound... not so organic, if you know what I mean. Other than that, we have a very pleasant and worthy debut recording, so I am looking forward to hear more from Graveyard Winds. I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up on labels like Memento Mori soon. 

Verdict: 75/100

Corpsessed - Abysmal Thresholds

CORPSESSED - Abysmal Thresholds (ME SACO UN OJO / DARK DESCENT - LP 2014)

A new album from Corpsessed was released this year, so I felt like it is a good opportunity to remind you all how impressive this band is and let their debut LP “Abysmal Thresholds” fuck up my hearing even more. For those, who are not familiar with this band, I will just write that this is one of the greatest this Millenium generation of Finnish death metal bands. They were formed in 2007 and did a couple of EPs. “Succumb to Rot” will be their third album. “Abysmal Thresholds” was unleashed back in 2014 on Dark Descent Records / Me Saco Un Ojo and that fact should already tell you about the quality, because these labels always deliver it. 

The easiest way to describe Corpsessed  and “Abysmal Thresholds” would be this album combines the traditional, say old school US death metal heaviness alike to Incantation or Funebrarum with the Finnish obscurity, which marked albums from the likes of Purtenance, Funebre or Abhorrence and nowadays is also a great trademark of bands such as Krypts. Obviously, it is nothing new for the genre and I sincerely do not even expect that bands like Corpsessed will deliver that originality – it's not even a factor, which I would search for in such bands. Instead, I want to hear crushing, powerful riffs, which will cause internal bleeding from every punch they give and dark, morbid, sick atmosphere, which goes together with those riffs. That is exactly what I get from “Abysmal Thresholds” and I am completely happy. Corpsessed music has a great quality and viciousness of Incantation, with very alike balance between slower, a bit doomy riffs and a bit faster, more intense parts. Occasionally, they also deliver some melodic pieces, like the one in “Transcend Beyond Human”, but they never really take a leading part in these songs. All in all, the music has a large, dense, massive sound, which has that CRUSHING feel – perfectly done. Oh, let’s not forget about the great vocal delivery of Niko Matilainen, who sounds like a beast with his deep, monstrous growl. It all fits together so well that I have nothing more to desire. And the best thing is, it’s not even the best LP from Corpsessed, in my opinion, as their second album “Impetus of Death” is even better and fuck knows what will they deliver with the third beast. Exceptional band, in my opinion. 

Verdict: 85/100

Minenfeld / Repulsive Feast - Scourging the Sick

MINENFELD / REPULSIVE FEAST - Scourging the Sick (LYCANTHROPIC CHANTS - 7"EP 2022)

Expect a solid of dose of 7” vinyl reviews soon, as recently I obtained quite a lot of new music released in that godly format. First one I would like to give a short description about is this killer collaboration of two German death metal kommandos – Minenfeld and Repulsive Feast – under the name “Scourging the Sick”. They may not be the most known bands out there, but I can assure you that they keep delivering some solid and worthy pieces of old school death metal for some time now. And it ain’t different with this split. 

Side A is occupied by Minenfeld, who I feel I have underrated slightly, having “The Great Adventure” and “Night Raid” only in my collection, so there are four more releases I still need to grab. On this split they provided a song titled “Scourge of War”, which is very simple, straight forward and heavy piece of death metal chunk. Riffage easily brings bands like Obituary, Asphyx and at some point Unleashed to my mind, and that should say everything to you. Minenfeld rolls over relentlessly like fuckin tank, with that slow to mid paced death metal and it seems they have only one thing in mind – to crush. And they do. Sure, I probably have heard better songs from Minenfeld before, but I like “Scourge of War” anyway, this is just pure, slightly doomy, death metal. It's enough for me.  

This is a third seven inch with Repulsive Feast logo on it – I like the way they deliver their music. If I was them, I would keep doing seven inches only!!! Fuck albums haha! Anyway, in case you don’t know, Repulsive Feast is a project of Steffen from Cryptic Brood among others. They keep bringing this filthy and obscure, almost primitive grinding death metal, which just stinks with corpse and faeces! Songs are short, simplistic, and yes, they do have lots of Autopsy, early Carcass and Pungent Stench (to name few) influences. It's rather a compliment to compare Repulsive Feast to these classic bands and I find a lot of pleasure from their primitive music. Some may moan on the harsh production and a bit sloppy sometimes playing, other will speak of the disgusting and repulsive (heh) music... well, I suppose it isn’t death metal for everyone. Personally, I like that style and I think that Repulsive Feast is damn good. I’m waiting for more seven inches from them! 

Verdict: 80/100

Upon the Altar / DeathEpoch - Split

UPON THE ALTAR / DEATHEPOCH - Split (PUTRID CULT - CD 2022)

Split CDs / LPs are always fun to listen to and I really like the idea of bringing two (or more) killer bands on one release. Recently new split came from Putrid Cult Productions, with Upon the Altar and DeathEpoch. Both bands debuted a while ago with great full albums, so the information about collaboration of them both on one CD was very exciting. Knives are sharpened, torches aflame... the ritual begins. 

Upon the Altar is a pure murder. I absolutely love the work from this band, their debut album "Absid ab Ordine Luminis" was an extremely good effort and it took some time before the dust has settled after the devastation this album caused. I am so glad that these four new songs are no less fantastic (three more songs are just intros, so I am not commenting them, although they do keep that great blasphemous and ritualistic atmosphere, which is great). What you can expect from Upon the Altar is bestial, insanely savage death / black metal and they are ripping through with high intensity and brutality. Clearly Upon the Altar do not intend to take prisoners. Their music is annihilating and merciless. But what I love about them is that the riffage is more varied than in your usual band from that type of extreme metal. They do not focus just on fast paced, relentless death / black metal, for example "Theotokos Wept" is a wonderful slow, crushing wall of heavy chords. Honestly, every song from Upon the Altar sounds great, I love that harsh production and ghastly vocals and that dark, morbid, grave atmosphere, which the band creates. Sooo, if you think that bands like Teitanblood, Embrace of Thorns or Diocletian (to name just few) are up your street, then do not hesitate to support also this legion. 

As for DeathEpoch, I am sure their music can be seen as somehow controversial among more purist and orthodox extreme metal maniacs, due to the use of electronics or keyboards or whatever else is in the sick minds of two creators of that project. But even if so, I had almost sadistic pleasure when I played their "Abysmal Invocation" album loud to cause some disgust among the neighbors. There's something possessed and mad about their music – which is always welcome to hear. And DeathEpoch do not give a fuck about everything also on these three new tracks. Expect then raw, hateful, primitive and sometimes a bit experimental black metal. Expect total sonic violence and disturbance. Songs like “§148 art. (Human Beasts)” will give you a total blast, from techno beat through intense and primitive black metal savagery to the best riff that close the song accompanied by great sounding, mournful keyboard. “§148 art. (Onslaught)” is also noteworthy and I am sorry if I prefer when DeathEpoch plays slower stuff, but they are really, really great at it. Anyway, it may not be music for everyone, but who cares. If you like to hear some sick shit, then this is for you. 

Verdict: 80/100