Autopsy

Vircolac – Veneration Review

Vircolac – Veneration Review

“Sometimes a promo one-sheet actually does its job and gets you incredibly curious to hear something. That was the case with Ireland’s unusual death metal act Vircolac. I had no knowledge of them, but the one-sheet made it sound as if I had to hear their sophomore release Veneration or risk missing out on something unique and special. Steel hates missing out on something good as much as the next Viking gorilla so I grabbed it and stashed it in the Jungle Room. The trials and tribulations began soon thereafter.” Faulty venerator.

Iron Front – Hooked Review

Iron Front – Hooked Review

Iron Front are a young band fresh outta the savage wasteland of California. Their sound is a straightforward mix of hardcore, slam and brutal death, with an emphasis on the groove, not on noodly technicality. Their aim, from the outset, is to crush, not dazzle. Their debut, 2022’s Left Out to Rot, was as unpretentious as it was fun: a brutal little appetizer that promised more. That “more” is Hooked, and straightaway the cover will tell you everything you need to know.” Iron deficiency.

Cryptworm – Oozing Radioactive Vomition Review

Cryptworm – Oozing Radioactive Vomition Review

Cryptworm’s 2022 Spewing Mephitic Putridity debut completely satisfied my shameful desires for a death metal album sounding like someone vomiting gut slime and mega-maggots for 33 minutes. It was repulsive, obnoxious, stupid, and fun. It was also really heavy, borrowing key chapters from Autopsy and early Carcass. I go back to it regularly, so the UK-based blokes did something right. Now hot on the heels of this grisly triumph, we get a brand new splatter platter called Ooozing Radioactive Vomition.” The Worm has (re)turned.

Jarhead Fertilizer – Carceral Warfare Review

Jarhead Fertilizer – Carceral Warfare Review

“There’s disgusting death metal, there’s brutal death metal, then there’s death metal that walks into a room and makes you wonder if anyone else in that room has a restraining order against it. Autopsy may have pioneered this brand of whiplash, burner phone grooves against parole-violating subject matter, but Jarhead Fertilizer—featuring mostly current or former members of grinders Full of Hell—has taken the campy idea of that putrid stance and added to it a real-world violence.” Feel the Fertilizer.

Vastum – Inward to Gethsemane Review

Vastum – Inward to Gethsemane Review

“San Francisco’s Vastum have been an interesting act to follow since they hit the scene in 2011. Employing an especially moist, slimy cavern-core sound owing much to Incantation, Autopsy, and Funebrarum, their savage attack was hard to resist on ace offerings like Patricidal Lust and Hole Below. With current and former members of Hammers of Misfortune, Acephalix, and Ulthar involved, they crafted some unsettling, evil-sounding shit and their writing felt more interesting than the average death output. 2019s Orificial Purge felt like a comedown in quality and inventiveness, though it was still an enjoyable platter of mostly mid-paced death. Now comes Inward to Gethsemane and with it, a hope for a rebound to the vile magic of their earlier days.” Is ugly enough?

Carnal Tomb – Embalmed in Decay Review

Carnal Tomb – Embalmed in Decay Review

“Prior to the Great Plague, Holdeneye discovered the vile charms of Germany’s Carnal Tomb and was quite taken with their sophomore outing Abhorrent Veneration. He appreciated the mixture of old school and Swedeath and the band’s ability to weave in restrained proggy elements without upsetting the corpse cart. Several years and many weird societal shifts later, we get their third helping of gruesome bits, Embalmed in Decay. The band’s basic template remains in place though it shifts the focus more completely to old school death with fewer Swedeath d-beatings taking place.” Sex after death.

Autopsy – Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts Review

Autopsy – Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts Review

“Ah, Autopsy – the olde school gore hounds who helped birth not one but two extreme genres. Dead in an excrement-filled ditch after the toilet misadventures of 1995s Shitfun, they rose from the poo-mulch in 2011 with their mammoth Macabre Eternal comeback and they’ve been threatening wiolence ever since. Hot on the heels of 2022’s highly impressive Morbidity Triumphant, the scuzz-boys are back with Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts.” Rotten flesh served fresh!