Protected by ancient Necromantic rituals, Richard Benton plunges beneath the turgid waters of the Styx to recover obscure gems of suffering from the edge of obscurity.

You could be forgiven for thinking that no more combinations of necro and phage remained unused, but Necrophagous think they’ve found one.  Whether or not they have becomes irrelevant within seconds, as In Chaos Ascend (Transcending Obscurity) begins tearing the place apart like hyper-charged early Morbid Angel.  Enormous riffing and commanding vocals are their key musical elements, and they invest both with the magisterial power that David and Trey fooled too many bands into thinking was easy.  

Along similar lines, Nullification’s debut Kingdoms To Hovel (Personal) takes the path of total destruction, but in a much filthier, rawer and chaotic fashion.  The pencil cover and hand-drawn logo give an idea of the level of sophistication involved, but there’s nothing crude or ineffective in the way Nullification rip through songs like ‘The Sledgehammer’ or ‘Inside The Surreal’.  Their label is leaning hard into the Old School Proper Death Metal From The Past angle, and there’s certainly a cause for that, but there’s something strangely timeless about music this violent, and the result is far from being an exercise in nostalgia. 

Descent continue the theme of relentless brutality on their second album Order Of Chaos (independant), but their brand of Death is mixed with Black Metal tones and touches of Grind to make something more caustic and unstable.  The higher register and more snarled vocals will likely appeal less to those who prefer their Death Metal more cavernous and low-pitched, but the quality of the song-writing and razor-sharp performances are undeniable – as is the skill required to keep material this straightforwardly aggressive interesting over a full album. 

Taking a break from the single-minded violence, Arizona one-piece Thorn continue to explore what they can comfortably fit under the Death Metal tag on their second album Yawning Depths (Chaos).  Mechanically there’s a lot going on here – a core of cavernous sewer Death Metal drawing on elements of Sludge, Grind, Dark Ambient and whatever post-Metal is today – but it mostly hangs together with the kind of fluidity that comes from a single vision.  The combination of atmospheric elements with essentially dissonant, brutal music works well, and creates an unsettling tone even when the tightness of the compositions can slacken. 

The Fetid Crown in this particular salvo of horrors, however, must be presented to Greek Death/Doom ritualists Ectoplasma.  On Inferna Kabbalah (Memento Mori), they explore a similar terrain to that occupied by Hooded Menace or January’s big crossover kings Druid Lord, but coupled with a sinister intensity and blasts of hungry speed.  Invoking senses other than sound to describe music is a crude device, but you can be forgiven for saying that Ectoplasma’s riffs stink of the grave.   Much like Nullification, Ectoplasma assay a traditional style without sounding dated or nostalgic by investing it with intent and purpose.

RICHARD BENTON