2022 was a year of mucho death metal in the Charnel House of Steel. In fact, I listened to more of it than I did at any time since the early-to-mid-90s. The rogue pathogens and/or testy fungi released into the atmosphere during the Great Pandemic awoke something ugly in my Medusa oblongata, refracting my musical tastes back to my meatheaded twenty-something days. 2023 rolls around and I’m still stuck marinating in that rot tub grime machine. This unhealthy predilection led me to Seattle upstarts Re-Buried and their Repulsive Nature debut. Featuring members of Un and Fórn, these denizens of disease play a slightly modernized brand of OSDM with elements of caverncore sitting uneasily alongside low-brow gym-friendly death with occasional slam influences barging in and throwing ham-fists. That means you’re in for a raw ride with many an unruly elbow thrown at your melon. This should work for those of you I’d want to associate with.
Even the lowest of scum cretins knows a successful death platter needs to nail you in the nutter butters with the first strike, and “From Beneath” does exactly that. Lurching between horrid, crawling riffs that Incantation would eagerly adopt and blasting, thrashy segments, Re-Buried know how to bake a moldy tomb biscuit, and the garbage disposal vocals from Chris Pinto (Fórn) are a disgusting delight. This stuff delivers the goods and has moments of crushing weight that feel very satisfying. The title track stays in morbid formation for more shit fun and giggles, and the slam man makes an entrance during “Planetary Obliteration” resulting in a rowdy, world-eating beat down. The slower, doomed out grind of “Infinite Suffering” is also a high point with some amusing OHHHs and URRRRs by Mr. Pinto to properly punctuate the putrid proceedings.
The entire first half is strong and highly entertaining death, but the remainder of Repulsive Nature isn’t quite as consistent, with a few cuts feeling stock standard. While “Smoldering Remnants” is a merciless master blaster, “Throne of Asmodeus” stumbles, despite borrowing from Morbid Angel and Immolation in the riffage department. It’s not bad, but I’ve heard this exact thing many times before and it never ramps up to that next level. Closer and longest cut “Rancid Womb” dabbles in more textures and even paints a wee bit with Death’s Human era sound, but it too ends up feeling underwhelming in the final tally. Since these two tracks close the album out, Repulsive Nature doesn’t go out on its hairiest foot. With the album running an anemic 33-plus minutes, this could suggest that the band isn’t quite ready for prime time yet (the presence of a short, essentially useless interlude adds to this perception), but damn, when their songs gel they create lime-green chipotle napalm. It helps that most tracks fall in the 3-minute window and get in and out without fucking about. The production by Billy Anderson features the key Bs (big, burly, beefy) and there’s a substantial low-end weight to the mix that suits the material. The slightly retro vibe is appreciated too.
There is a goodly amount of bruising, contusing riffs present courtesy of Paul Richards and Eddie Bingman. Yes, they lean on the typical Incantation and Immolation-isms, but who doesn’t in this day and age? The best material features effectively massive, repellant leads, and over the album’s runtime the duo showcase their chops as they dabble ever so slightly in proggy waters to accentuate the brainless bludgeoning. Chris Pinto comes to kill with his ginormous death vocals and he steals the show more than once. He’s the exact kind of infected throat you want fronting a band like this and I have nothing but praise for his gruesome gargling. Alex Bytnar (Un) also deserves praise for an abusive, thunderous kit performance that powers the material through the walls of restraint.
Re-Buried appear to have the tools of the trade needed to make a bloody mess in the death scene. They hit it out of the park at times and at others, they come close enough to give them a mulligan. Repulsive Nature is a solid debut with a few warts and blemishes, but the potential for more is there. I’m on board should they get this corpse train rolling again. Worth a loud spin whilst doing dark deeds.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Translation Loss
Websites: re-buried.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/reburieddeath
Releases Worldwide: January 20th, 2023
