death metal

Undeath are on their third album already. That’s crazy. Well, I guess what’s crazy is how fast time has gone, rather than anything else. Anyway, on to the album. The unfortunate first reaction is that More Insane is actually just More Of The Same but on repeat listens I’ve come to realise that this feels much more polished that the earlier efforts. On top of that, the drumming on this one is particularly of note….

Having only previously been familiar with the early Goatpenis demo era I was therefore totally unprepared for the sound of the latter day releases such as Biochemterrorism. This album fuckin’ rules. It’s war metal / bestial black (whatever) and of course comes with all of the carnage that those genres promise, but also has this innate catchiness to the songs that a lot of artists in that world can’t seem to achieve. Production is a…

As many have noted before me, the legendary status of such a composition makes it rather difficult to talk about. Each name in the running order – a mere footnote in the playlist here, is instead a whole epoch of extreme metal history (yes, even the not-so-well-known ones towards the back). I would recommend this compilation to anyone who is new to underground metal and grindcore; the glory days of Earache are truly difficult to…

For its place as a early 90s classic, Non Serviam has a very dry, almost artificial sound to it. It isn’t loaded with friggin’ VSTs of course, but it does have a bizarre robotic feel to it. Production aside, this is a fantastic set of songs. I love how when both guitars are going they just melt together into one entity, especially when the synthesizers kick in to complement them. Cutting a track or two…

This is a small EP that came after Utopia Banished and has the same death metal influence yet raw and loose production. Super intense, super overwhelming, super fucking heavy. This one can slip through the cracks very easily, but the tracks are well worth your time, especially as two are exclusive to this release.

A stunning document of absolute chaos, both musically and in reality. This semi-official (I guess) debut from this seminal but messy project is one that every fan of war metal / raw death metal should check out. The sound is not the greatest but the guitar tone is fucking fantastic. Features Pete Helmkamp on bass and vocals, who some of you may know from the early Revenge records.

Short but sweet demo / single from this short-lived Dutch death metal outfit. We have the usual drab death metal production, but things still have a nice balance to them all the same. The drums and bass in particular sound fantastic, underneath the more typical (sorry) guitar and vocals. The final track, “The Prophecy” is the highlight here, IMO.

If you can take one look at that record sleeve and resist listening to this thing then you are a stronger man than me. The guys are wearing “corpsepaint” but this predates most Norwegain stuff, which is kinda cool. I’ve been coming back to this thing on and off for a while, and despite its unsatisifyingly short run time (it is a single after all, I guess), I am hooked on the messy, uncompromising nature…

Any album with Akhenaten on the cover is immediately going to grab my attention, even if such a deep dive into ancient Egyptian history is fully expected from a band named Nile. On top of that, whilst Those Whom The Gods Detest is an improvement on the weak Ithyphallic, the production does a stellar job of homogenising what is can only decipher as an otherwise extremely excellent set of composed sounds. At first, it hits…

I enjoy Pungent Stench but don’t come back to visit them all that often. Been Caught Buttering, which is the band’s sophomore album, walks a tightrope between concise, clear music and production, and on the other side, wallowing in a pit of disgusting gore. There is also the matter of the band’s purile sense of humour, which compliments proceedings nicely, of course. Pungent Stench play with the discipline and tightness of a death metal band,…

I love “alternative timeline” listens like this one. Abominations Of Desolation is, if I’m not mistaken, Morbid Angel’s original canned debut album, which didn’t come out, and instead we got a much more buffed up version in the form of Altars Of Madness. Abominations is well worth your time however, not only for the alternative takes on favourite songs, but also for the historical significance of a band as important as Morbid Angel is to…

Frantic, high-energy, fast-paced death metal from the time where thrash was giving way to a whole new underground, including stuff like this. The band are firing on all cylinders, but are also playing fast and loose, driven by their intense energy and speed, rather than a coherent, laser-focussed tightness. But that’s OK, this is a death metal from 1988, where precisely this kind of thing is encouraged to flourish. Rabid, rabid stuff – oh, and…

Sextrash built off the er, sex thrash of their previous record with a far more brutal and heavier offering. Funeral Serenade, despite its name and year of release making you perhaps think that this was some cataclysmic, slow doom metal record, is actually a savage assault of the sense that has its roots in what I suppose is a mix of both black and death metal, more so the latter as the second wave hadn’t…

There’s something about Kanonenfieber that I can’t quite put my finger on. The songs are – at the surface level – enjoyable and engaging, but as soon as you try and scratch further, to dig deeper and form a more meaningful connection with the music on the record, there is something that is blocking this from happening. It seems that the band’s black / death metal is only skin deep, and after you scrape away…

Sounding more like a darkly gothic take on Death’s Scream Bloody Gore than anything off of Panzer Division Marduk, the origins of one of black metal’s most enduring and well-loved bands is an interesting one. Their genesis does not seem entirely planted in the sister genre of death metal waiting to flip over to black (unlike say, Darkthrone’s Soulside Journey), but Dark Endless streamlines the melting pot of various “extreme” genres of the late 80s…

Diocletian are a band that could possibly be considered the thinking man’s war metal. Warm, dense production enraptures Doom Cult, with its fast yet sludgy riff compositions and untriggered, organic drums fighting away against the tide of unstoppable riffs. The vocals seem like an afterthought; primitive howls and screams across the top of the swirling cauldron of chaos. Great shit, in all fairness.

Even from the start, if evidenced by Haunted, there wasn’t much chance of Six Feet Under ever achieving the heights of greatness that Cannibal Corpse had. Barnes’ new project was on a much more “meat and potatoes” level (that’s really saying something when comparing against Cannibal lol), delivered perhaps one of the most cut-and-dry metal performances I’ve ever heard. From the production, to the utilitarian riffing, to Barnes’ very own trademark growls, Haunted beats you…

Brutal, bludgeoning, primordial Finnish death metal of pedigree from the very early year of 1989. I know that the formative years of death metal were far earlier than this, but not so much for this particular blend of crushing death. The Cranial Torment demo presents 20 minutes of incredibly solid work, for your listening displeasure.

Raw, unforgiving, brutally Finnish (lol) black and or death, of course in dusty and disgusting demo form. Don’t expect the world (and deffo you should expect it to kind of sound like shit) and Sanctus Satanas will reward you in spades filled with black, diseased metal.

No frills early daze death metal (in the days where thrash became death) not too dissimilar from others at the time. The most interesting thing here is how heavy this is for 1986. It almost sounds as if the guys in Autopsy listened to too much Slayer before recording any songs.

It’s hard to see why this thing gets such a pasting. Yes, it’s not Altars Of Madness, but it’s a well made, well composed slice of lightning fast death metal. The album loses its way towards the end, descending into a series of pointless and distracting tracks, but the core “metal” songs are absolutely fantastic. Tucker sounds rabid as hell and Pete “the Feet” is a machine on the drums. Riffs. For. Days!

I don’t usually like brutal or technical death all that much. It can become a brute force attack of cardboard cutout drum triggers with a side serving of riff salad. But not Guttural Secrete. This shit is fucking outstanding. Punishing is probably the best way to describe it, but an enjoyable and satisfying listen for those on the hunt for new levels of savage barbarity. The production job is fucking glowing, which doesn’t always work…

Pure fucking head crushing death metal! I’ll level with you, I expected Cannibal’s records to get worse as they went along, but fuck, this record is up there with their best shit. Gore Obsessed? More like Riff Obsessed, brah brah. Production is par for the course but the soundstage is huge and the balance of instruments is fantastic. Alex Webster’s bass clanks away maniacally underneath the razor wire riffage. Straight banger after banger after banger….

Solid early demo from everyone’s favourite Norwegian (now) dads. Even at this primal point in time, the band were cooking up their own super interesting brand of death metal, and the complex drumming is of particular highlight.

Fucking stupid as fuck but good clean fun for the whole family. Originality? Purleease. Brain slam nonsense is what you’re getting, and you’re gonna be fucking pleased about it!

You gotta hand it to these guys, they have some of the most ridiculous and absurd vocals ever. Easily one of my favourite pitchshifter vocal performances of all time, regardless of which album. Because We Care (lol) is like a bigger budget version of Keep On Smiling, which is not quite as bogged down as the later more “death metal” focussed stuff. Because We Care still retains plenty of that trademark early daze silliness to…

That bass crept out the damn speaker and slapped me in the whole face. Darkness and evil, brah brah, pure roughness and toughness.

Drab, disgusting, low, infinitely dark death metal from a short lived yet revered project. Expect the usual death metal demo tape dustiness and lo fi production, but tunes that absolutely crush you.

Lo-fi, grinding, pounding war metal of a prehistoric nature (lol). Don’t expect these neanderthals to (re)invent the wheel, but expect instead the sound of primordial being smashing each other with rocks and so on. Nice riffs too!

Later Master is a strange beast. You’ve got the super clinical and clean drumming, mixed with muddy and swampy old school death metal guitars, and of course, Paul Speckmann’s trademark howl/yelp/growl/whatever. The track here is a hell of a beast; 6 minutes of chaotic metal goodness. Paganizer initially sound like some forgotten 90s Barney-era Napalm Death recording, which is an interesting start. Their offering, whilst half the length of Master’s, is no less in quality…

Mixed bag early release from the now legendary Blood Incantation. As has already been firmly established, these tracks are available elsewhere on better releases, so Astral Spells is a listen for the true ‘heads and the lost. The TLDR is that the first twelve minutes of music is glorious technical death metal but with an anxious and paranoid edge, like I’m creeping around corners in an abandoned moon base filled with monsters. Like Death meets…

No frills in regards to approach, vibe, songwriting, or production, but infinitely enjoyable sickness nonetheless. Expect the ol’ blast n’ rattle brutal death with plenty of chuggy heavy riffs too for good measure. Throw in a gore-soaked computer-drawn cover art and boom, job’s a good one!

Glorious metal of olde that looks like black metal but sounds like death metal! It is perhaps crazy to think that there was once a time where both genres were not so accurately defined, but 1994 was not this time – both were very much established by then. So, the stunning cover image and title(s) were a deliberate design decision. Interesting! It certainly makes for a change from all the usual guts and gore. As…

I’m no expert on Deceased but credit is due where credit is due: a.) the drumming on this is absolutely fucking fantastic! As a drummer myself I was fucking glued to my headphones for the entire listen (and then the repeat listen lol). Then, of course, there is point b.), which is that Deceased have such an unique personal take on the death metal template. Outside of “the greats”, how rare is that? It’s a…

Christ Denied return with one of the most typical and boring brutal death metal releases I have ever heard. The old shit had tons of character in its quirky drum machine metal, this one sounds like it could have been made by AI. The kindest word I could use to describe this one is “serviceable”. If you are an absolute ravenous nut for death metal then check this out, otherwise I’d give it a pass.

Thick, chunky, nasty, brutal death metal for the whole family to enjoy. The condensed all treble all bass production is enough to give anyone a headache after forty minutes or so, but I’d be lying if I said Serenadium didn’t rip; there are some fucking great songs here. The original master has a bit more breathing room, but if you pick up the 2017 remaster, expect to be pummelled into the ground by an overcompressed…

Chunky, unforgiving brutal technical death metal from the US of A. Really low and bassy production, with clear triggered drums and breathing room for the more melodic riffs. Vocals are the usual Cookie Monster affair, but you know what you are in for when it comes to something brutal like this. Not as good as Serenadium, but a decent companion to that album.

I can’t remember where I picked up this 7″, but it was probably one of the stalls at OEF – pretty sure Skullhog played one year and I got it then. I have no idea! Haha! Anyway, Regurgitate stuff here is great, 3 traxxx ov waxxx on their side. Fast, d-beat led gurgling gore is the order of the day with a fat sound and enough mosh parts to keep the pit wide fucking open….

Noisy, hideous “death metal” tinged grindcore from back in’t the old daze. Grim blasts of unintelligible noise is the main course for your delectation, although the record does descend into a longer track where there’s repetitive spoken word / clean section of vocals, just in case you really wanted to know what kind of disgusting shit this lot were shouting about. I kinda lose interest here, even on repeat listens the pace is lost when…

Karma Bloody Karma is another notable step forward in the evolution of the Cattle Decap sound. The gory explosions of Humanure are streamlined further and then expanded on with more intricacy, brutality and maturity. The production is clear and balanced, allowing the bass to feature prominently without detracting from the guitar and drums, and Travis’ vocals are excellently disgusting on this one. Even though I picked the picture disc up upon release (think it was…

Back in 2007 when I was running a small distro, Dr. Satan sent me a bunch of these and I ended up keeping one for myself. There seemed to be a period of time where these tiny 3″ CDs were quite popular. I haven’t seen any for a while now, outside of the few that I own from “back in’t day”. Anyway, Microwaved Uterogiblets is pure Mortician worship through and through, but pay attention and…

My only experience with Christ Denied was seeing Anaal Nathrakh having their set cut short at OEF 2013 so that these guys could play. It was one guy with a guitar and a drum machine, and a vocalist dude who stood completely still and wore sunglasses even at like midnight. I was like, WTF is this bullshit? Lmao – it seemed like Mickey Mouse bedroom death metal compared to the shortened aural assault of the…

Humanure was the first Cattle Decapitation CD I ever owned. I remember seeing the artwork on their website (which was completely decked out in this theme back in 2004/05 – damn I miss old websites) and I was immediately sold. At the time, the gory metallic mush that is their sound was super intimidating and impenetrable. I thought it was the coolest thing, though. Going back through the band’s discography chronologically now, it’s easy to…

Three tracks of promising death metal madness, much in the vein of Fluids if I had to compare it to anyone, but not quite the same. Sick art, absolutely outstanding logo, and the promising bludgeoning fury to back it up aurally. I look forward to finding out what else this project brings.

Nasty goregrind with razor sharp guitars and million-mile-a-minute dustbin drums. I’m not super sure what the source of that artwork is either, I’ve seen it around, but it’s pretty hideous stuff. For blast-addict gorehounds only!

No frills death metal from The Netherlands. Sometimes what you need is a straight forward shot of brutality right to your brain. In such a use case, Antropomorphia does not disappoint. The production is not how I would personally like, but it is fully serviceable and once you’ve adjusted to the explosion of sound that you’re about to be subjected to, you can begin to appreciate the meat and potatoes of the songwriting on display….

Impaled’s sophomore record is a fairly mature interpretation of the “Carcass” template, turning biting, gore-tinged metal numbers into something a bit more three dimensional. The strong production job helps, but it’s the compositions which sell this. They really make this one stand alone; unique, instantly recognisable as Impaled, despite featuring all of the hallmarks of the melodic yet brutal pathological sound. The “custom made” samples / interludes are also a nice touch, adding even further…

Savage dual vocal crust with death metal and grindcore elements. Very well produced, with a decent balance of raw aggression and aural clarity (it’s a hard balance to achieve for many, trust me haha – but this band nails it). Vocals range from throat shredding shrieks to bellowing growls, which is just lovely.

Haemorrhage are – as per usual – on top form here. Grisly, gnarly, slightly sloppy (but it’s OK) goregrind from the masters. Riffs for days, sickness for a few days more, from the opening chainsaw sample to the finale note played. Dead on the other hand are a bit chonkier. Their “sexy” goregrind / death metal hybrid hits like a slab of roast beef to the back of the head (eyyy!), more in the vein…

Taking the early days Cat Decap platters of splatter in a tighter, more precise and streamlined a direction. To Serve Man is like one of those injections that makes you throw up all over yourself, shit yourself, and then pass out. But only after hearing this whole album first. Some of the directions can be nauseating, with neck snapping changes in ideas / riffs but the delivery is so totes brutes that I’m all for…

The Negation is the band’s follow up to the legendary and IMO game changing Nihility. On the surface of it, The Negation is like Nihility part 2, which should be a good thing I guess considering how incredible that album is, but for reasons I’ve not really addressed until now, The Negation never really landed with me and this was when I parted ways with Decapitated back in’t day. Don’t get me wrong, some of…

What’s better than death metal? Why, sloppy goregrind mixed with death metal, obviously. Taking pages from the books of not only Carcass, but also Xysma, Impetigo and even Autopsy, this early daze incarnation of the now legendary Exhumed is a treat in primitive metal brutality done right. The demo grinds along like a rusty machine, but one that will hit you with lethal amounts of force if you are not careful.

Solid fuckin effort from the legendary Deicide. For some reason I was always under the impression that this was where Deicide started to fall off, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. This shit slaps. Hell, even J-Dawg likes it! Darkness and evil, goddamnit, what’s not to love? I gotta level with you all – I think I prefer this to Serpents Of The Light. I may have had one too many knocks…

Amazing quality early demo from the legendary and unbeatable Autopsy. Am I biased? Of course, I fucking love Autopsy. But I mentioned something similar in a recent Immolation review; this demo is of such high quality that it comes off as more of an EP than an early demo. Without wanting to repeat myself as I did there, I can only say that this early offering is well, well worth exploring if you are after…

I’m no scholar on the work of Chuck and Death / Mantis, but this noisy rehearsal demo featuring the now legendary line up of Chuck, Rick Rozz and Kam Lee, is nothing but an absolute pleasure to listen to. It is perhaps easy to put this up on a pedestal due to its historical significance, but it is, at the end of the day, a noisy thrash-becoming-death metal demo made by a bunch of very…

Immolation’s self-titled demo was nowhere near as dusty, shitty and low quality as I expected it to be. Instead, the band presented to us, in 1989, something which is more akin to an EP than a demo, such is the quality of the production and songwriting. Of course, all three of these songs go on to appear on the debut proper anyway, but this is worth checking out because the band were firing on all…

What a gem! I’m I randomly stumbled upon this one (thanks to Ken’s Death Metal Crypt). This demo / EP is incredibly good. Immediately I draw parallels between this and Akercocke, is it possible those gentle brits (lmao) took a lot of influence from this? The clanking bass and subterranean low vocal screams yes to me. An easier comparison would perhaps be Deicide, but the two bands don’t quite match up aurally. Anyway, my shitty…

The Sarcastic Terror material here is a bit clearer than their debut demo / EP, but I can’t say that they have evolved much musically in the 3 years between the 2 releases. I’m not knocking it though, their decrepit grinding death led with demonic pitchshifter vokills is well worth checking out. In-Quest are a new discovery for me, with this split, and they are a bit busier and more energetic than Sarcastic Terror. The…

I’ve gotta give props to Choppin Headz zine for pointing me in the direction of Sarcastic Terror (I can’t remember which issue, sorry!). This is some true underground sickness right here; some proper off the beaten path shit. Sarcastic Terror toe the line between grind and death, with the muddy, chugging riffs of the latter meeting the sensibilities and pitchshifter vocals of the former. Take Fascination With Mutilation era Agathocles and throw them in a…

Don’t fuck with the Prehistoric War Cult. True derivative war metal served right up for your fuckin’ ears! Bashed about the head with clubs! Like a fuckin’ axe through your skull, lodged in your brain like dropping a knife in a stick of butter. Production where you can FEEL every hit of the drum, the rumble of the bass, the ear-shredding mess of the guitar. Truly uncompromising extreme metal, strongly fucking recommended.

Sado Grind Metal is an unofficial compilation bringing both the self titled EP and Moloch EP into one session. They are quite awkwardly jammed together, but it’s a good way to experience all the “ancillary” Naked Whipper releases with ease. You could do this album and Painstreaks in one single session and inhale the band’s entire discography in one sitting.

Probably the washiest Naked Whipper session but earns bonus points for lack of watery flanger bullshit. Straight up grimy cassette session ass “sado grind metal” to appeal to your most base and primal musical lusts. Look no further, come in and enjoy the carnality!

Sadistik fukken war metal that’s gonna whip your fanny off, if you give it half a chance. Production? Who cares! These tracks hit you in the face like a lead weight over and over and over again when a suited and booted dominatrix kicks you in the balls at the same time. Yeah.

Ugh! Wishy washy lo-fi fuggen war metal is the order of the day! Can I get a side of extra flange with that please, drive? Tidy! Because nothin’ more Satanic and fukken evil than sounding like you’re under water, boss, ya dig? Cosmic aqua terror incoming! Hold onto ya fuckin’ dickpipes lads!

Can I get a reeeeee, a skreee and possibly a breeeee? EarDelete play glacial paced “grindcore” with silly vocals and party atmosphere, and in this case an overarching theme of the devil somehow being involved, for reasons beyond my comprehension. Production is good, but the best thing about this is the guitar; thick and chunky with a dark tone. Tidy.

I love the mix of crushing doom metal and more traditional instrumental passages, which use all manner of different sounds to build the atmosphere. Anyone who puts a church organ on a doom record is a genius in my book. The production is also fantastic and the length of this thing, seemingly impenetrable at first, opens up the album like some sort of sprawling journey or concept album. Granted, this type of death/doom at the…

Proclamation often get it in the neck for being “derivative” – but is it possible (at all) to not be derivative in the microgenre that is war metal? Either way, I don’t give too much of a shit personally, because Advent Of The Black Omen is fucking class. Expect muddy, downtuned guitars, endless spastic drumming and vokills to invoke the horn-ed one. Y’know, it sounds like war metal. Don’t forgot to break out your bullet…

Muddy, nasty, gory death metal a la Mortician, slightly underdone, more blue than rare, but still tasty all the same. I have a very (penetrable?) soft spot for Fluids despite calls that they are nought but a derivative copy. I think the success of their “rise” through the “world” of “modern death metal” and the number of vinyl and cassettes these guys have sold would perhaps indicate that the haters are indeed wrong (who would…

Behold.Total.Rejection. completes my descend into the murky world of Revenge full-lengths. Sometimes I can struggled to think of what to say for certain releases, and Revenge are a band that I’ve noticed this happening for multiple times. I guess once you know what Revenge are about, and you start coming back for more and more, you know exactly what you want and you know exactly what to expect. In that regard, BTR is another variation…

Yantra Creating sees 7 H.Target expanding upon their punishing slam sounds. Unless I’ve got this all wrong (I am, after all, an ignorant westerner) there’s an undercurrent of Hinduism layered through the precision blasts and massive riffs. This bleeds into the music too, with not only more traditional elements of religious music interwoven into the brutality, but also introspective passages of melody and moments of calm. It’s an interesting development that has 100% of my…

Side A is a blisteringly fast and chunky “HM2 hardcore & death metal smoothie” (that doesn’t actually sound like it utilises a HM2 pedal lol) but where An Unexpected Reality really shines is Side B, with the ten minute “Emptiness”, a doom-laden masterpiece that earns every second of its run-time.

Slightly muddy sound, but an excellent set that covers the first four (read: the only decent) Berzerker albums. I saw them live on this tour and it was fantastic, so to have this disc come out not long after was a nice little treat and reminder about how good they were live. For this line-up Luke had long-time Berzerker collaberator Sam Bean on bass, recent (for the time) Akercocke recruit Matt Wilcock on guitar and…

Pretty uninspired, straight forward d-beat style stuff with that “dark” edge that was trendy as fuck around maybe 2010 or whatever. My only real surprise here is finding out that this wasn’t put out by Southern Lord. If that were the case then my “dark and mysterious modern hardcore” bingo card would have been well and truly full. I’m being facetious of course, and Usurpress are hardly a bad band. It’s just I feel like…

The single version of “Suffer The Children” contains the incredible track itself (obviously) but also “Siege Of Power” redone from Scum instead with Barney on vocals, in the band’s death metal style, which is much more in line with how you will experience the song live. I’m not sure what’s going with the final track, “Harmony Corruption”, which sounds like something I’d hear whilst playing the N64 version of Doom or some shit.

If the stankin’ mush of the first Pharmacist full length is akin to Symphonies of Sickness, then this perplexing follow up is akin to Necroticism. It sounds trite to compare this entire band’s work to that of Carcass, but if you are even remotely familiar with Pharmacist then you’ll know why I’ve done this LOL Real talk though, I did not expect this record to be the way it is. Pharmacist are one of the…

A cold, dark and grimm early EP from the legendary Immortal, showcasing a transitional phase for the group as they, like basically everyone else in Norway at the time (yay, go hive mind!) moved from playing death metal to this new fangled “black metal” style. Production-wise, this obviously leaves a lot to be desired, but if you like to be nuts deep in reverb-drenched drums, then look no further, this is the release for you.

PHD (lol) is, if my memory serves me, a fantastic side project / off shoot of Chainsaw Dissection. It’s a little rough around the edges production wise, but other than that this thing fucking slays when it comes to bringing shovelfuls of brutality. For those in search of truly disgusting brutal drum machine goregrind and / or death metal, please look no further than this. Your prayers have been answered!

Like latter era Death on intramuscular steroids, getting into a fight with Nocturnus at a Voivod gig. Voivod have stopped their show to watch the fight unfold in as near silence as a fight can happen. The Voivod guys are having brewskies and a sneaky joint. “It’s not bad, eyy?” Asks Snake from Voivod to nobody in particular, but his colleagues and audience are too enthralled by the chaotic mess unfolding before them.

This has gotta be up there with the greatest death metal records of all time. I wouldn’t neccessarily call Autopsy, or even Mental Funeral in particular, “slept on”. But when people talk about the greats, early Cannibal Corpse, Death or Morbid Angel gets brought up in most common conversations. Where is the motherfucking love for Mental Funeral, I ask? This shit is truly in a league of its own. And whilst I don’t think Autopsy…

I’m over here in my rainy, shithole part of the world, wondering how the fuck Re-Animated Dead Flesh gets such a bad rap compared to the other Mortician records? I do understand that folks might have been sick to the back teeth of Mortician by the time a 5th full length came out, but damn this shit fucking rules so hard. Dead Flesh easily has the best production of any Mortician full-length, with a much…

Got this thing turned all the way up on my stereo to hear that gut-rattling meatgrinder bass beneath the drums and riffs, but every time the vocals come in, they fart out of the speakers at such a low frequency that it nearly rattles the poor speakers onto the floor! Why the vocals are mixed so incredibly high in the bass range I am not sure, but one assumes it must have something to do…

The first Mortician release I ever bought, think I paid £13 for this from HMV in like 2006 or whatever, felt really expensive at the time. Even though this was one disc, it felt like it went on FOREVER. Hacked Up For BBQ can be a brutal listen in of itself, but with Zombie Apocalypse tacked on the end the journey is a long one! I remember thinking the sampling in Zombie Apocalypse was just…

It is unlikely that DIS will ever top Hatred For Mankind. That album was, as people like to say about these kinds of things, like lightning in a bottle. After the somewhat mixed reception of Widowmaker, DIS’ third “full length”, in this case a collaberation with the excellent Gnaw Their Tongues, is I think as close as we are ever going to get to that intense sonic explosion that was their debut. The production is…

ugggghhhhhhhhhhh! For when you need a shot of Autopsy real quick, real fast, nothing will slake your thirst quite like Fiend For Blood. Forewarning listeners at the time of the inclusion of short, grindy songs on Acts Of The Unspeakable (an album that drags along with the pace of a corpse otherwise), Fiend For Blood is a slight change of direction from the beautiful intricacy of Mental Funeral (especially in regards to the drumming), heading…

Acts Of The Unspeakable feels slower and more torturous in its pace than its predecessors, but it still has its moments of speedy goodness or unhinged manic shredding. In fact, “Ugliness And Secretions” back to back with “Orgy In Excrements” would have you thinking that I was telling porkies about the aforementioned slower pace but alas Acts does feel slightly more of a lurcher than before, and in more ways than one. That cryptic mention…

Madness, sheer madness I tells ya! Another band from the “Czech school” of goregrind and brutal death, with spastic drumming and lightening fast riffs. I usually use the term “farmyard vocals” as a cover all for the kind of stuff that Mincing Fury have going for them, but truly the vocal efforts here are more like “freakshow vocals” than any equestrian or bovine equivalent. Lovely production too, which makes this thing kick like a mule,…

Nihility has always been my favourite Decapitated album but in recent times Winds Of Creation has crept up there to rival it. Winds… is an absolute belter of a record, combining all of the best elements of metal music and pushing them to 11 (not in a Spinal Tap way, but in a fuckin’ ferocity overload kinda way). As a drummer myself, early Decapitated’s sticksman Vitek always stands out to me, with his insane flurries…

Ants in your pants brutal death metal with a tendancy towards the absurd end of goregrind / porngrind. I’m talking farmyard vocals, pitchshifters, snare drums that sound like dust bins, y’know, the works. Throw in some hilarious samples (as well as some disturbing ones) and 21 total traxxx of blasting madness for you to enjoy. I got this CD through a trade or something many years ago, can’t remember how I got it, just that…

Crisp, clean production and surprisingly melodic guitar work. Judging this book by it’s cover I was expecting unfathomable pits of muddy brutal death crossed with “goregrind” (read: an extra layer of pig squeals) but Ambivalence has a lot more nuance to them than I could have expected. Unfortunately, nothing particularly challenging or engaging is presented here and the vocals can be pretty bad in parts, so the band’s name really comes into play here, to…

Serpents Of The Light is where Deicide starts to lose me. To be fair, the first three albums are ranked incredibly high for me; their unique (for the time) brand of serrriously evil death metal was second to none, especially on the self-titled and Legion. Serpents Of The Light is far, far from being a bad record, it is just some of the genuinely scary energy and atmosphere of those earlier incantations has started to…

The primitive yet thoroughly entertaining beginnings of one of metal’s most endearing (lol) bands. Things are a little rougher around the edges on Cannibal’s debut, with the influences of 80s “proto” death metal still in the mix along with (dare I say) a few thrashy elements too. I wouldn’t call their playing sloppy by any stretch of the term, but the band are certainly looser here than on any other studio record, but moreso due…

From Sacrifice To Survival is probably my least favourite Skinless release. Nothing about the songs here pop out at me. Older stuff is grimier, nastier, more savage. Later stuff is more slammy / precise and fuckin’ brutal. This one kinda just falls through the cracks in the middle, which is a pretty shitty analysis to make but I can’t think of how else to describe it, because there’s nothing necessarily wrong with this album, it…

Don’t come into a project entitled Anal Vomit expecting the world, and you will be rewarded for your imaginative frugalilty with a cut of messy, unholy death/black hybrid. It would be too easy to add the tag of war metal to cover all of the above bases, but realistically this isn’t quite unhinged enough to fall into that punishing category, if one was to be anal about it (lol). And seeing as I am here…

Stinky, nasty old school death metal, just what the Dr. ordered. Been hyped about a second Cryptworm album for a while and I was very happy when they delivered. The band are now in possession of a drummer that can keep time and oddly enough at first this gives the impression of a loss of some sort of charm (coupled with the slightly cleaner production here on the sophomore effort), but once everything clicks into…

Excellent songwriting from one of the stronger names in the current British underground. Perhaps Spectral Intercession does not live up entirely to the sheer excellence of Septic Funeral but this is still a solid follow-up and a solid debut to boot. The HM2 buzzsaw sound in 2023 is no doubt polarising and is indeed a bold choice, because Coffin Mulch are NOT just another one of those derivative copycat bands. The songwriting is nuanced and…

(Original:) Mmhhmmm de-fucking-licious brutal death metal with the mandatory slam passages that make you wanna beat your chest like a gorilla and throw some mad fucking shapes, dawg. The original mix of Butcher The Weak is much muddier than the remaster but it makes up for that in spades. Likewise the drums are lower in the mix here but I don’t know how it just somehow works far better. The guitars are walls of sludge….

This is my shit right here. The cover art is just *chef’s kiss*, and the tunes ain’t too bad either, you dig? Back when old school death metal was the new school, Suffo was hitting it out of the park with releases like this. Dry, but organic production holds the framework for rigid but punishing cases of songwriting.

Get your dicks out for some br00tal fukken slam, brutha! Bust out the pots and pans, run your guitar through your chainsaw (somehow) and get the Cookie Monster out of rehab for some vokills. Expect such ditties as “Maggot Swollen Titties” and “Concrete-Filled Rectum”. No frills, no experimentation, no compromise. Straight up brutal shit.

Thus today I spake ov thon deepest boggs ov Goremany, and of which creatures dwell therein! Oh, such hideous things! Oh, such ghastly sounds that are an affront to mine own ears! Ronseal as fuck goregrind / death metal here for sure. If you can stomach another frog project (frogject?) then this is really fun.

Is it just me or does Cannibal’s art just get sillier and sillier as time goes on? Haha Either way, this album bounces back a bit, not that the previous albums were bad or anything, it’s just that the songs on Bloodthirst seem to be more enjoyable. Opening with one of Cannibal’s best tunes, fucking “Pounded Into Dust” (also the shortest song on the album) absolutely smokes 99% of the bands in this style, sick…