As the days grow ever shorter and the year creaks to an end, Matt Cook ventures into the subterranean in search of death (metal) and depravity to warm his decomposing cockles…
Sadus – The Shadow Inside (Nuclear Blast). Bouts of adrenaline-fueled rabble-rousing and shrieky thrash vocals are the name of the game on The Shadow Inside the most recent work from Sadus – their first LP in seventeen years. The furious pacing injects caffeine straight into your aorta while serviceable backing vocals (“Anarchy”) provides a balance. The 10 tracks are fortunately more than boilerplate Thrash Metal as Sadus exudes variety and character to create a bustling collection of face rippers.
Buy the album here:
https://sadusofficial.bandcamp.com/album/the-shadow-inside
7 / 10
Cruciamentum – Obsidian Refractions (Profound Lore). Rule of thumb: the more obscure the band name, the filthier the product. Cruciamentum go full festering mode and Obsidian Refractions bolstered that notion with droning, crawling grime. Though there are delightful moments of thrash and hearty chugs, a dose of WTF multidimensional finger tapping reminds the audience that this record is anything but standard. “Scorn Manifestation” devises a sinister, remorseless environment. Rightfully so, since Cruciamentum come off as a very sinister, remorseless unit.
Buy the album here:
https://cruciamentum.bandcamp.com/album/obsidian-refractions
7 / 10
Cryptworm – Oozing Radioactive Vomition (Me Saco un Ojo). What do you get when combining gurgly slam vocals but with riffs? Cryptworm. Oozing Radioactive Vomition packs a plethora of atrocious metal into six tracks of titanic proportions. Song titles such as “Miasmatic Foetid Odour” and “Submerged Into Vile Repugnance” encapsulate the band’s motivations. The drums here are (thankfully) bodied rather than hollow. And “Organ Snatcher” boasts vocals that sound utterly prehistoric.
Buy the album here:
https://mesacounojo.bandcamp.com/album/oozing-radioactive-vomition
8 / 10
Phobocosm – Foreordained (Dark Descent). Sure, Phobocosm is technically a band and Foreordained is technically an album. But the music is anything but. Filled with a doom-stricken aura, a devastating and constant sonic blast gives more of a sense of warfare or catastrophe, which I guess is what Death Metal is all about, after all. The rhythm section is deranged to the point of inducing a psychotic episode. “Primal Dread” sees sustained guitar tones sounding like the toll of a church bell.
Buy the album here:
https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/foreordained
7 / 10
Walking Corpse – Our Hands, Your Throat (Transcending Obscurity). Grinders, technicians and air drummers alike will be marvelously happy with Our Hands, Your Throat , the foundation-altering work from Walking Corpse. “Dreamflesh Navigator” and “Forever Sleep” is balls-to-the-wall, diesel-powered grindcore, bursts of frenetic decimation. “The Wheel” in a word (or two) fucking rips. And with eleven total songs to choose from, the product as a whole flaunts a litany of techniques which are equal parts proficient, intense and unhinged.
Buy the album here:
https://walkingcorpsegbg.bandcamp.com/album/walking-corpse-2
9 / 10
MATT COOK