Basement Torture Killings – Lessons In Murder (2020)

July 18, 2020

Ah, fantastic; it’s time it seems, for another record from Sackhead, Tightshead, Dr. Snore and… Millie from Craniation (here’s hoping I’ve spelt that right). BTK are one of the more consistent and generally well rounded and solid offerings of the British extreme metal underground, and this is despite various line up changes over the years.

Lessons In Murder is great, following on in the style of There’s Something About Beryl, albeit with a more natural and uncompressed sound. This is mostly noticable with the drums, which sound a lot more organic, especially the snare. That means when shit gets to blasting and grinding, it sounds like I’m listening to one of the old school bands, rather some overpolished turd.

The guitar work is razor sharp; distilling and balancing both the precision and gory slop of greats like Carcass or Exhumed, whilst retaining BTK’s own streak of originality. Similarly, the vocals call back to both of these bands, yet Beryl in particular has such an unique yet brutal delivery, which is really the icing on this somewhat sick and twisted cake. Great stuff!