2024 Nameless Grave Records (CD / LP)
2024 Desert Wastelands Productions (Cassette)
www.namelessgraverecords.com
www.desertwastelands.com
BADASS SONG TITLES: Breathe the Decay, Dressed in Corpses, Written in Blood and Covered in Flies, Oceans of Rot
BADASS TRACKS: Watch Me When I Kill, Breathe the Decay, Death's Denial, Rotting Behind the Madness, Dressed in Corpses
This record is an absolute death metal beast! I knew I was in for something good when a fantastic guitar harmony faded in to introduce the record, and was promptly destroyed by a blast of ferocious death. This is very European-sounding death metal, so I did a double checked where they band is from, and it turns out that they call Indiana home!
Musically, they stand on their own without really calling to mind another specific band as an influence. It's hard to pin down where this death metal originates, besides with these fine gentlemen. The vocals do remind me just a little bit of Asphyx or Pentacle, but they have a bit more of a savage aspect to them, almost as if we took the singer from Blasphemy, made him use his higher ranges to bark out the words like he does, and set him loose singing Asphyx. It's hellish, aggressive, and warlike. This doesn't mean the vocals really sound like any of those individual singers, it's just what immediately came to mind when I heard the first vocal lines. The singer emphasizes style over diction, which is what led me to the Blasphemy comparison. The vocals are also often soaked in reverb, which only helped me draw the comparison.
Musically, the skill level is very high here. Guitar solos rise up quickly and disappear just as quick, but when they do extend their presence they are quite melodic, really adding atmosphere to the record overtop the pounding rhythm section, which performs flawlessly on the album. Memorable riffs and quite excellent songwriting with some verse-chorus-verse style songwriting is on offer, and the death metal world is better for it. Most of these songs are excellent, and they'll tear your head right off before offering it back to you kindly between tracks.
Do not hesitate to purchase this in any format if you see it for sale, or wish to seek it out. You will not be disappointed if you like death metal in the least (and if you don't, why the FUCK are you on this website!). This is another high water mark for 2024, and is one of the records that I'll be measuring 2025 against.
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