Memento Mori

Coffin Curse – Ceased to Be Review

Coffin Curse – Ceased to Be Review

“Australia is in the midst of a devastating bushfire crisis and severe drought, so the fun-loving summery good vibes we are accustomed to, have been undercut by widespread devastation of habitat, wildlife, property, and loss of lives. Throw in the usual trials and tribulations of life and it’s been a strange time. But as is often the case, metal is a cathartic remedy to tough times. And some good old, no-frills death metal played with ferocity and feral rawness is just what the doctor ordered.” Casket case.

Vultur – Drowned in Gangrenous Blood Review

Vultur – Drowned in Gangrenous Blood Review

“The overflowing embarrassment of death metal riches of 2018 was always going to be tough to follow when 2019 rolled around. Not that the year has been lacking in quality death metal, but for the most part the genre hasn’t blown me away. Perhaps an unheralded act is capable of stealing the show as the year winds down. Enter Greece’s Vultur, set to unleash their sophomore album, Drowned in Gangrenous Blood.” Blood drunk.

Filtheater – Blight of Sempiternal Putrefaction Review

Filtheater – Blight of Sempiternal Putrefaction Review

“Don’t you just love it when something is so clearly represented by a single image or title? Yeah, me too. That’s why I blindly selected Filtheater’s debut record Blight of Sempiternal Putrefaction from the Bin ov Promos. That cover. That logo. That title. All of it screams dirty, grimy, raw death metal.” So greasy!

Horrisonous – A Culinary Cacophony Review

Horrisonous – A Culinary Cacophony Review

“Eating is metal. We survive by threshing matter to an unrecognizable paste, forcing it down a lightless cavern and then, in the darkness, boiling it in acid. The act of feeding ourselves encapsulates the blend of violence, intensity and profundity we reach at when we use ‘metal’ as an adjective. Horrisonous drive this point liver-deep with their debut full length, A Culinary Cacophony. Its members have been slinging death around the Sydney scene in bands such as Temple Nightside, Backyard Mortuary, and Illimitable Dolor, and they’ve put their overstuffed CVs to work chopping, searing, and seasoning a viscous trough of old school death metal.” It’s a gutter buffet.

Vile Apparition – Depravity Ordained Review

Vile Apparition – Depravity Ordained Review

“Abstract: Many recent investigations in the field of death metal have returned to classical techniques in order to reliably synthesize brutality. In recent years, authors have generated several novel formulations that draw from classic literature to generate new brutalities that fit modern needs but are still as effective as older formulas. Here I report on a recently discovered compound, formulated on a reliable basic structure, which exists at high purity with few residuals. This new product is applicable for research use and will be available in digital databases shortly after the publication of this article, with physical availability expected later in 2019.” SCIENCE!

Ruin – Human Annihilation Review

Ruin – Human Annihilation Review

“The mystique surrounding Ruin — the band started in the ’90s, but members were incarcerated and institutionalized, and now their twisted musical vision is coming to life and they’re some sort of cult — seems, at the very least, exaggerated. To dive fully into — and thus to fully enjoy — their sophomore release Human Annihilation, we have to suspend our disbelief and think of Ruin not as a band but as a ‘death metal cult,’ as they would describe it. Only then can we dive into what they’re doing and what they seem to be trying to portray.” Metal from the big house.

Atavisma – The Chthonic Rituals Review

Atavisma – The Chthonic Rituals Review

“Get your shitkickers on and nightlights ‘n Prozac at the ready, yo, today we’re going somewhere filthy and utterly devoid of light or joy. France’s Atavisma will be dragging us pleasantly by the throat through a subterranean and sinister network ov nightmares which they call The Chthonic Rituals. I’m just here to narrate the whole ordeal and giggle as you lot wail and bump into each other in the dark.” Bumping in the night.

Cardiac Arrest – A Parallel Dimension of Despair Review

Cardiac Arrest – A Parallel Dimension of Despair Review

“According to the inexhaustibly kvlt amongst our readership, we don’t review death metal. This is, of course, rubbish, mostly because, musically speaking, death metal is just about my favorite thing, and while I enjoy all of its increasingly technical incarnations, a platter of the traditional riff-beast is always certain to set my chops salivating. Cardiac Arrest are a band after my own heart — perhaps literally — serving the kind of classic cruelty the northern peak of my decades compromised vertebral column can freely enjoy without having to break out the algebra function of my old calculator.” Death for the olde.

Shrine of the Serpent – Entropic Disillusion Review

Shrine of the Serpent – Entropic Disillusion Review

“I don’t know what it is with the water in Portland, Oregon lately that’s causing this recent influx of heady, destructive doom/death metal. With Bell Witch dropping an almost-90-minute megaton bomb in Mirror Reaper last year, Portland is starting to become the city where all things slow and guttural go to blossom into incredible, epic-length cascades of the downtrodden. Throwing their hats into that collective summoning circle is upstarts Shrine of the Serpent.” Dirges over Portlandia.

Rotheads – Sewer Fiends Review

Rotheads – Sewer Fiends Review

“From Leonitus in the Republic of Plato to sad, lonely, middle-aged women reading the barely literate depravity of Fifty Shades of Grey, the ugly, vile, visceral, and disgusting has a wide-ranging abhorrent appeal. Death metal, our chosen disgusting delicacy, revels in refuse instead of aiming for transcendent beauty. Romania’s Rotheads have, with their debut Sewer Fiends, gone straight for the most repugnant place they could envision, and through their music they try to bring the listener down to grovel alongside them.” Filth hounds.