death metal

Damn BRO if you like Cannibal then you’ll fukken love this, but that’s all I got for you, brah brah. As a whole, the record is pretty uninspired in regards to how good some of the latter career Cannibal records are. If you check my other reviews you’ll no doubt be thinking “damn son, why don’t you stop talking about the other Cannibal albums and actually talk about the album at hand?” – Well, I’ll…

This one is so low and heavy that it farts outta the speakers, fam. Which, to be honest, is not great. But hey, buried beneath the grime is some serious riffage, for sure. Crush The Cenotaph is worthy of a listen for metal completionists and those who are interested in the historical aspect of the band and this genre. Everyone else? I’d not bother, to be honest.

I love it when an album sleeve sums up the sound of the record within so goddamn perfectly. This shit is a hideous mess, fam. All the hallmarks of the demo remain; HM-2 buzzsaw carnage drenched in lo-fi noize and sleaze, with bubbling vats of vokills and sledgehammer DOINK drumming. Less of that wobbly tape sound from the demo; more straight to the point nastiness. Tidy!

Evisceration Plague is another high quality slab of well produced death metal from the kings ov the genre. Unfortunately, Evisceration comes after a long line of incredibly (seriously) consistent Corpsegrinder CC albums and just cannot keep up with those that came before it. As I said, the production is excellent, and there are some fukken fantastic songs here, but there are moments of lulling where I find interest to be waning or sections to be…

You can trust Mephitic Corpse to keep it real with that DISGUSSSSTIIING death metal slop. After recently re-familiarising myself with their first demo I was fukken stokked to see they had dropped their debut in early 2025. If you like your death metal gory and BURIED in fukken fuzz then look no further. Hideous shit. Top stuff.

TBH I usually find most HM-2 stuff to be complete fucking garbage (talk about an overused trope) but Caustic Phlegm’s use of nasty, disgusting demo production and gargling pitchshifter vokills over the top of the buzzsaw riffery, coupled with slow dustbin drums and spooky synths, creates a rotten and damp atmosphere where the best, most interesting and sickening death metal can flourish. Loses a few points for the artficial tape flutter effect (ONLY TRVE ANALOG…

It is incredible to me just how consistent Cannibal Corpse can be sometimes, and Kill is no exception. It’s place in that incredible run of albums from late 90s to late 00s; uncompromising death metal with brutal vocals dressed up in hard-hitting yet super clear and precise production. KIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!

Thick, chunky production on this! Bass clanks away manically underneath the layers of guitars and fat drum sound. Solos abound – and fucking good ones at that, I’ll be honest. The proficiency on this one is effortless, I’ll give them that. Really cool shit bridging the gap between death and thrash.

People say to me, “Behemoth used to be a proper black metal band back in the day”. It don’t get much more back in the day than this, and this piece of shit demo is 110% death metal, brah brah! Looks like ol’ Nergal and pals came full circle, eh? This demo is pretty terrible, to be honest. I’d only really recommend listening to it if you are like, madly obsessed with Nergal or something….

Chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug chug…

Murder In Mind is quite simply one of the best death metal albums ever made. Don’t get me wrong, every single Desecration record is a banger, but Murder In Mind is just lightning in a bottle. The production is pretty dank, and the group don’t have super-fast drum maniac Mikey in on the kit yet, but even so, this shit absolutely fucking rules. If you even have the most remote interest in death metal and…

Overwhelming blackened death with an absurd wall-of-sound production. Drum triggers tear through your ears like the fuckers were shooting nails out of the speakers. Vocals are great. Guitars are a blur of overcompressed mids.

A Naked Whipper comeback / sophomore album was not on my 2025 bingo card, I’ll be honest with you. It’s also very easy to be sceptical of something like this happening, especially so long after the original run, as it were. However, much like David Lynch’s Twin Peaks (bet you didn’t see that comparison coming huh), the Naked Whipper return after several decades does much in the same in that it takes that original perverted…

Subterranean death/doom without the pomp or abstract bullshit. Straight to the point, hideous and torturous shit. It’s not a very long demo, but it’s long enough to leave it’s mark in metal history like a disgusting slap in the face from a shit-smeared hand. Tidy.

Good shit! An often overlooked relic from the past, which had the whole grim and disgusting death/doom shit ironed out before a lot of contemporaries. Personally, I think the demo is better (is it possible to write that without ever sounding like a hipster?) but there’s plenty to be gotten here with this EP. Production is unsurprisingly better here and the songwriting and overall finished sound is much more matured, but there is something about…

A cool way to get all of the Grotesque Infection stuff in one place, if one was so inclined. Personally, I could give a fuck about the live set at the end, but such is the way with these things. This comp is worth it for the demo and the EP.

Fuckin nasty shit, bro. As we say in the Valleys: fucking bogging, son! Truly, this is a sound so decrepit and disgusting it’s hard not to completely lose one’s mind whilst listening to it. It feels like falling down a swirling vortex of innards and goo; a maelstrom of bone and unidentifiable viscera. Think Cryptworm crossed with the early Dead Infection demos / LPs.

Bowel churning death metal of the gory and disgusting variety. Expect fathomless depths to both the guitar tuning as well as the vocal performance (hey, not to mention the production!). The drumming on this from Jullian Rhea is second-to-one; the skins are loose and kinda wet sounding, which is a far cry from the fetid (lol) pings of dustbin snares eternal in these murky subgenres, but every smack of the snare – be it blast…

You gotta love early Dismember. This shit is great. Absolutely God tier HM-2 fuzz attack death metal with that defined Swedish style. I have gone off the sound quite a lot especially because of how derivative it is these days (if you use HM-2 pedals with THAT setting ironically or not that’s an instant turn off for me lol), but albums like this one or Entombed’s Left Hand Path were originals; trend setters, I guess….

Unleashed’s debut gives that proper old school death metal feel; before death metal became over-produced with it’s dryer-than-a-martini Morrisound production (lol). That’s not to say that Where No Life Dwells is fast and loose; the production is perhaps more organic but the riffs and the drumming are executed with excellent precision. Without wanting to be trite, you can easily make comparisons to early Obituary or even Autopsy (sans gore). There’s also something decidedly Swedish about…

Hedd fukken nekk wrekkin brain mushin death fukken metal brah brah and don’t you fukken forget it! SHITE computer generated cover art? You got it, brah brah. Production that farts out of your speakers? You got it, brah brah. CHUNK for daze, brah brah!

A mixed bag, but what a bag of goodies it is! It would be realllllly fucking cool if every single track sounded like “Piece By Piece (Remix”) because the drums are fucking out of this world. Proper blast your feckin’ heid off kinda shit. But yeah, idk, what do you want me to say. This shit fucking slaps. Subterranean, dirty-sounding black and/or death from the melting pot that was the Finnish 90s scene.

As someone who loves space, old album covers and pyramids and shit like that, the cover art for this one really spoke to me. Personally, I think that Blood Incantation have delivered another solid album yet again; another middle finger to the endless legions of haters and detractors. The production is just absolutely gorgeous. It’s warm and in the trebly range that you’d expect for death metal yet everything – little accent and flourish –…

Very early Darkthrone album that is quite endearing to listen to. It’s really great to hear these guys marry all these styles and influences together. We have vocals that wouldn’t be out of place on a Blasphemy record over the top of melodic riffs that are suspicously close to a certain Metallica track that will remain nameless LOL They were just kids at this point so I won’t be too harsh. It’s a fun listen,…

A cool mix of shit that is incredibly well made, but where none of the elements particularily shine that bright. For example, the heavier / more “brutal” elements are tasty, as are the more “traditional” death metal parts and even the melodic metal parts (such as the excellent cover at the end). The synthesizer passages and samples are also good fun, but the album does not exceed in any of these. It’s got a whole…

Mmmm boy, are you fat!I wonder how many death metal bands there are out there called Ossuary. You could probably start another genre: ossuarycore. But anyway. I digress. Fat is exactly how I would describe this record. It feels so chunky that I half expect opaque, treacle-like white liquid to start oozing out of my speakers. This is the type of shit that clogs your sewers, fam. The production here is basically subterranean; the guitars reduced to…

Rifftastic, doomy death with that proper old school feel. I’m sure the wobbles and tape hiss artefacts that are on the recording go a long way in helping with conjuring these feeling. Honestly, there’s not a snoozer here in this 4 track demo; every song kills, IMO. Personally, I’d go as far as saying that this one is a mandatory listen for demo fiends, despite a few short comings with the quality.

Nasty, dark and primitive death metal with cutting streaks of black metal; really, a very interesting blend indeed. Whilst I prefer Never Again (which has a more blunt approach), the mixture of genres here is really fuckin’ great. It’s all over in a flash at 20 mins in length, but it’s well worth your time (you don’t need me to tell you that; this is almost legendary in status these days).

UGH! Holy fuck, I slept on this. This shit rips. How do you produce an album that’s so heavy it feels like you are drowning in some sort of tar or sludge and you can barely move, yet this is still nimble and dexterous as fuck? I have no idea, ask fucking Rippikoulu. 30 minutes here of solid, super dynamic and super interesting death metal. Brilliant!

It’s wild to me that a band as well loved and revered as Lividity has so little in material that is actually of any substance. Perverseverance is not bad, but I feel like I have heard this done a thousand times before – by Lividity and others too – and done much better too, at that. If you like straight up brutal death with clear, modern production, then check this out. Otherwise, I’d probably skip…

Great tunes but they really suffer due to the muted and rounded production. The drums are reduced to a series of clicks and clatters, the guitars are super scooped and overcompressed and the vocals just sound like burps and farts. Yes, I am fully aware that this is brutal death metal, and in another album perhaps all of the above are plus points rather than negatives, but the sound in which this record is presented…

I am constantly blown away by how consistent Corpsegrinder-era Cannibal is throughout the late 90s and early 2000s. Bands of this prolific nature tend to either run out of steam or wander off the beaten path into experiments that either haunt them or pay off in spades. Cannibal? Nah, just straight up fucking BRUTAL death metal, fam. And I’m not talking about the subgenre. I’m talking about the meat of this thing being hard as…

It is perhaps hard to justify the fervour that this album drums up, without placing yourself back at its time of release. Nowadays, fans of this kind of music have been exposed to all kinds of slow and disgusting death metal, but that’s not to say that Infester does not still stand head and shoulders over the rest of it. Notice that I’ve not used the terms “doom” or “death doom”; the Infester full-length is…

My lord, those drums are sloppier than going last at a gangbang. The downtuned blurs of guitars don’t help either; hammering the songs on this record home with a wet splatter, like being hit in the head over and over and over again by a moss-covered chunk of stone broken off the edge of a grave. Disgusting!

When I first got into Napalm, this was teh compilation that I bought. I was a bit disappointed that it was not all just raging grindcore, but that’s what I get for doing my research first, huh. Anyway, nowadays with everything being online and available instantly at the click of a button, this isn’t all that useful, but it was a nice intro to all the Earache years stuff from Napalm Death. It also had…

Choppy, messy, yet absolutely satisfying early demo from the wonderfully perverse Impaled Nazarene. Oath Of The Goat, which came the same year as their other demo, Shemhamforash, sees the band experimenting with music that is much closer to their hideous debut album than what we get on that other demo. The death metal is dialled back a bit, and we get the potent mix of grind/crust and black metal (almost like war metal) that Impaled…

Shemhamforash has more of a death metal influence than anything else from Impaled Nazarene that I’ve heard. As always the crusty punk elements are also highly visible, but the black / war styles are in very short supply on this interesting cassette demo. Almost to reinforce my point, there are Extreme Noise Terror and Deicide covers at the end. Production wise, thing are pretty raw (this is a cassette demo after all) but Shemhamforash is…

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.