Brutal Death Metal

Mutilatred – Determined to Rot Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on May 16, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Groove Metal, Slam, 32 comments

“In the ever-spewing world of brutal death metal, many bands push the boundaries of what low-IQ, shit-shoveling grooves can offer us—not Mutilatred though. These Toledo slam boys offer nothing more than what you would expect from the caveman school of death metal: riffs to keep the pit churning, skulls numbing, and hammers raising. When they hit the scene in 2015 with Dissecting Your Future, chug-junkies shotgunned the knuckle-dragging numbers like natty lights in the parking lot of a $5 show. In 2019, they also managed to squirt out a little EP—Ingested Filth—which helped load their tour-heavy existence with a few extra tunes. Then 2020 happened. Left to fester at home in a jar too small to contain their riffs, Determined to Rot represents the frothy, lid-bulging Mutilatred brew of a couple vile years.” Rot so fast.

Dischordia – Triptych Review

By Dear Hollow on April 29, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 39 comments

“A crucial aspect of my death metal enjoyment comes from the mood it invokes. I feel plain cold with OSDM stuff, but the oft-maligned dissonant death offers a spectrum of atmospheres and environs: Portal’s gates of madness, Ulcerate’s apocalyptic meditativeness, and Ad Nauseam’s croaking caverns, for example. Sinister intent and apathies to our suffering are a given in the dissonant stylings, but what if we could make it fun?” Devil-may-care and discord.

Astral Tomb – Soulgazer Review

By Dear Hollow on March 27, 2022 in Reviews, 39 comments

“Good brutal death albums ruin your day. You swing your fists and frown, letting the caveman slams and moist leads saturate your eardrums in a coat of red mist as the mosh-pit hysteria results in a few too many lost brain cells. Astral Tomb does just that, featuring all the hallmarks of a good slam/goregrind/brutal death album: opener “Transcendental Visions” fitting this to a tee, the thirteen-minute opener reeks of Carcass-meets-Devourment-meets-Blood Incantation gore in its brutal emphasis on excess.” Star tombs, raw wounds.

Slob – Deepwoods Shack of Sodomy Review

By Ferox on March 2, 2022 in Reviews, 50 comments

“These here boys ain’t right in the head. UK duo Slob graces the world with a debut that dares to ask the question: “What if the hayseed rapists from Deliverance started a brutal death metal band and wrote a whole bunch of songs about sodomy?” It would be tempting to nickname these gentlemen “Gay Panic: The Band,” except Slob isn’t just interested in the kind of sodomy practiced belowdecks in the Royal Navy. Instead, they present us with an expansive and all-inclusive vision of the act.” Sodomy, sodomyou.

Embryonic Autopsy – Prophecies of the Conjoined Review

By Ferox on February 16, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 20 comments

“Listen to this record and it might just put a baby in you. Not by the traditional means, interesting though it might be to imagine those mechanics. Instead, Arizona’s Embryonic Autopsy debut with a concept album about the experiments, designed to birth human/alien hybrids, that may or may not have been performed at Area 51. With songs like “Telekinetic Insemination” and “Craving of the Mutated Fetus,” these gentlemen have a very specific kind of breeding on the brain. The sci-fi milieu, and some elements of the music, put this offering of brutal death metal squarely in Artificial Brain territory.” Newgenics.

Venom Prison – Erebos Review

By Maddog on February 12, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Hardcore, Melodic Death Metal, 81 comments

“In the three years since their sophomore release Samsara, Venom Prison has experienced a meteoric rise to fame. Samsara captured the hearts of both underground metal aficionados and non-sociopaths, by infusing high-energy brutal death metal with a healthy dose of slamming hardcore. Venom Prison’s unrelenting sound earned them a deal with Century Media, and Erebos brings the band to a crossroads as their major label debut.” Prisoner of expectations.

Celestial Swarm – Gateways to the Necroverse [Things You Might Have Missed 2021]

By Kenstrosity on December 6, 2021 in Things You Might Have Missed 2021, Black Metal, Death Metal, Slam, 10 comments

“It seems like I routinely encounter one album within the first week of the year that sticks with me to the end. In 2021, that honor belongs to Celestial Swarm’s immense debut, Gateways to the Necroverse. The international four-piece claim to innovate a novel subset of br00tality: “slamming black metal.” Given what I’ve spent an entire year absorbing, I think a better moniker is “brutal black metal,” but I suppose that’s splitting hairs.” At the Gateways.

Cutterred Flesh – Sharing is Caring Review

By Kenstrosity on December 2, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, 43 comments

“Indeed, Sharing is Caring! In the spirit of sharing, allow me to share my opinion on Cutterred Flesh’s cheekily-named fifth album’s artwork. It’s brilliant, and my current favorite piece of 2021. On the surface, it follows a common aesthetic approach endemic to brutal death metal. Look closer, and notice that the subjects’ roles are flipped. The innocent, fragile hoo-mahns are the ones doing all of the flesh-tearing, stabbing and vivisecting of the big, scary monsters.” We care a lot.

NecroticGoreBeast – Human Deviance Galore Review

By Kenstrosity on October 5, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, Slam, 39 comments

“I’ve officially entered October promo world. October is also my birthday month. Therefore, for the next 31 days (starting this Friday) I am only picking up promo for my favorite genre: death metal. Thankfully, there’s a ton of promising deathly tomes stacked perilously in the bin. One such tome is Canadian brutal slam punishes NecroticGoreBeast’s sophomore album, Human Deviance Galore.” Happy Deathday!

Deformatory – Inversion of the Unseen Horizon Review

By Kronos on September 4, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, 25 comments

“Spurred into action by Dear Hollow’s aggressive maneuvering towards my station as the Sole Arbiter of Brutality, I’m forced to toil in the less productive shafts of the criticism mines. This week sees me stumbling through the murk of the promo sump like a common probationary writer, grasping towards anything familiar and grabbing hold of Deformatory. The Ottowans’ last record, Malediction, was less than remarkable, but the basic conceit – ‘90s and ’00s Cryptopsy combined without all the wacky stuff – is worth more than one try.” Crypt lickers.