2024 Independent (Digital)
rattorturevictim.bandcamp.com
God DAMN it, I wanted this to be good. The cover is awesome, the name is cool, all that good stuff. The are at least FIVE FUCKING BASS DROPS in the first song along. WHY?! Dead simple lackluster slam riffs abound, interspersed with stupid samples and even saxophone at one point. This is the furthest thing from jazz-infused metal, believe me. It's much more like beatdown hardcore than true slamming death metal. Oh yeah - pingy snare? Check. Nonstop pig squeal vocals? Check. Ugh. Moving on.
2024 Xtreem Music
shop.xtreemmusic.com
Christ Denied are back with this sick fuckin' record of satanic brutal death metal. Total Tomb of the Mutilated and old Cryptopsy worship abounds, but they of course do this so well that you won't even worry about it. Dave's vocals on this are completely badass, bringing several styles of gutturals to bear, and they're all SICK AS FUCK, especially the lowest pitch he uses. Good songwriting, good musicianship, good recording. It should keep brutalists and technical death-heads happy equally. The riffs are especially interesting to me, and they know how to break stuff down before it gets too complicated. The super fast rapid-fire vocals Dave pulls off all throughout the record are incredible. I lost my mind laughing at it until I realized just how fuckin' brutal that really is and how difficult it is to do. I would be hard pressed to imitate any of his styles here. He's that good. This one turned me into a fan for sure, since I hadn't heard their previous records, and I'll be hunting all that stuff down, for sure.
2024 Season of Mist
www.season-of-mist.com
Guttural blasting technical sickness abounds on this record, the new effort from Defeated Sanity. Everyone should know this band by now, although I feel they're still quite underrated. This is a band that I know I'm always going to dig when a new record arrives, and is one of the few bands playing at this level of technicality that I consistently enjoy. Their signature "sounds like everything is about to come apart but is tight as fuck" sound is still present. There are lots of stop-on-a-dime moments and excellent heavy-ass breakdowns, as well as jazzy interludes where their virtuosic playing can shine. They always know when to throw us a bone with a simple riff to keep it heavy and interesting. There is a ton of incredible playing on this record, but the drummer in particular shines. I have called them "the Hellwitch of brutal death metal," and I think that moniker stands to this day. They don't sound like them, but they're pushing the same envelope of speed and technicality that Hellwitch does. Standout tracks: Accelerating the Rot, A Patriarchy Perverse, Condemned to Vascular Famine.
2024 Soulseller Records
www.soulsellerrecords.com
Bands that immediately spring to mind: the mighty Autopsy, Death Breath, GG Allin, Eat My Fuk, Abscess. With that in mind, you know what you're getting here, but keep in mind it comes melded with the ancient Swedish style that we all love so much, right in between the two camps. I love it. I have to, don't I? I mean, this is Ominous Vomit, and they're called Repuked, and they even have a track (a standout, mind you) called "Rebel of Vomit." Hell yeah. VOMIT METAL. The fuzzy and buzzy production on the guitars and bass, and live-sounding drums, is quite nice, as is the reverb on the vocals to give it that extra-sleazy feel. Filthy headbanging riffs with a true death metal style with punk trimmings. I can't think of much that's better.
No comments:
Post a Comment