If, as the old saying goes, it’s all in a name, then Oregon’s Witch Vomit paints a pretty picture indeed. With albums such as A Scream From The Tomb Below and Buried Deep In A Bottomless Grave already to their name, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the latest full-length studio release Funeral Sanctum (20 Buck Spin) isn’t exactly going to be the most relaxing listening experience.

After the slow, funereal dirge of intro “Dying Embers”, the band rips into the punishing Death Metal of “Endless Fall”. Skin-stripping blasts of raw energy are pushed aside by a darkly melodic groove before blasting out of the back of your skull with a shredding solo and deep, throaty gurgled vocals courtesy of frontman Tony Thomas (aka Tempter).

The two-and-a-half-minute festering explosion of “Blood Of Abomination” is likely to cause the loss of all bodily functions while “Serpentine Shadows” is a slow, melodic descent into the bowels of the earth, the song’s slower sections causing even more permanent physical damage.

“Decaying Angelic Flesh” is an absolute fucking juggernaut of fiery blasts and hulking slower sections with a good old-fashioned “Bleh!” thrown in for good measure. The tremolo-picked blackened death metal of “Black Wings Of Desolation” is infused with a classic scything US groove as is the Slayer-meets-Dissection fury of “Dominion Of A Darkened Realm”, the latter cut kicked into life by drummer Vincent Van Dell (aka Filth) before going on to feature one of the best guitar solos on the record.

“Endarkened Spirits” is a frantic sixty seconds of tremolo-picked, dive-bombing mayhem while “Abject Silence (Interlude)” is a slow, distorted funeral procession with more well-articulated melodic leads. The title track closes the album in explosive style, bassist Jason (aka J.G.) and rhythm guitarist Casey Lynch unleashing all the groove, melody, pounding fury and slow-burning energy of the past forty minutes into one writhing, multifaceted, four-minute sonic apocalypse.

From weighty, slower doom-crushing riffs to bursts of thrashing death metal rage, Funeral Sanctum draws on the sound of the band’s earlier material, adding more depth and variation without losing any of their raw intensity. An incendiary blast into festering projectile oblivion, 

Witch Vomit is here to stay. 

I’ll get a mop.

Buy the album here:
https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-sanctum

7 / 10
GARY ALCOCK