Wormed - Exodromos

I've been meaning to complete all these half-finished reviews I've had sitting around since...forever. The problem is I never get around to it, and then I get sidetracked with life's many nuisances. Having a smidgen of free time over the next few days should allow me to finish a few of these drafts and hopefully cover newer material as well.

But we'll see.

Wormed's Planisphærium remains a powerhouse of brutal slam; its technicality nearly unmatched and its uniqueness equally as elusive in the subgenre. The production value of Planisphærium was apt for the style. The scooped mids and loose, loud snare tone all contributed to making the album memorable, even if it was the brilliantly executed guitarwork that really delivered the 'technical cyber space slam' vibe that Wormed became known for. Exodromos' mix differs in that the mids aren't scooped, and the low-end is completely brought up. The bass range is limited to higher frequencies and there's really not much variation on the bottom end. It's a disappointing release on that front, and as soon as I got over that I was able to enjoy the album for what it was, kind of.

Still not as good as Planisphærium.

Pulsating and occasionally brilliant riffs radiate from Exodromos' sub-supermassive core. Wormed like to play with their listeners; they shift and blur riffs as to make predicting their next move impossible. Highlight track "Tautochrone" is a good example of this. About a minute in and the heavier, chugging riff shifts into a blastbeat segment before the main melody of the track breaks through right into another thick, chunky riff. I can appreciate the songwriting decision, and it makes the more direct tracks stand out like pulsars amidst the cosmic void. "Stellar Depopulation" is one of the more straightforward tracks and features a short-lived slam that decays into stop-start blasting and a chromatic melody that eventually evolves into something more beautiful.

Much of the previous standout riffing comes together during the album closer "Xenoverse Discharger." This track brings the best elements that you heard earlier into a singular(ity) fold. It makes for an atmospheric end, and is easily one of the best tracks on Exodromos. Speaking of atmosphere, the random spoken word ambient tracks are boring as all hell. "Solar Neutrinos" totally kills the momentum of the album for me.

Maybe I miss the standout slams of Planisphærium a bit too much or maybe it's just the production, but either way I find Exodromos to be a second-tier release. It's certainly not bad by any means, but after listening to "Xenoverse Discharger" you realize that the majority of the albums' best moments can be summed up in just six minutes.

7.75 out of 10

Tracklisting:
1. Nucleon
2. The Nonlocality Trilemma
3. Tautochrone
4. Solar Neutrinos
5. Multivectorial Reionization
6. Spacetime Ekleipsis Vorticity
7. Darkflow Quadrivium
8. Stellar Depopulation
9. Techkinox Wormhole
10. Xenoverse Discharger

Bandcamp

Suffocation - Pinnacle Of Bedlam

It's Suffocation. We know exactly what we're getting from them since the band hasn't strayed from the brutal/technical death metal formula since their inception. However it's the little things that always tend to irk the longtime fans. After seeing the cover art for Pinnacle Of Bedlam, many people decried Suffocation as falling into the generic, computerized brutal death metal rut that similar acts like California's Deeds Of Flesh have in the past. Though it's not like elements of that sound haven't existed on Suffocation's past releases, here Raymond Swanland's concept art only made that fear seem much more real. Not to mention the abysmal title font...

Pinnacle Of Bedlam is a mixed bag. While the fears based on the album art were brushed aside shortly after people began listening to the album, Pinnacle Of Bedlam is far from perfect. There's chromatic rhythms, melodic solos, and the rare d-beat hidden amongst the more pervasive blasting ferocity. In essence, Pinnacle Of Bedlam is pretty archetypal post-Despise The Sun Suffocation material. Teasers "Cycles Of Suffering" and "As Grace Descends" were nice blows for the naysayers and the morons who claimed that "Suffocation has gone deathcore."

The problem isn't in the predictable songwriting though. That's by far the best aspect of Pinnacle Of Bedlam, despite Suffocation not being as focused on the 'brutal' element as they were in the past. Frank's vocals have become more subdued with age and Terrence's riffing style has gravitated towards melodious technical death metal. This comes as common knowledge for myself since I've given their recent output a listen, but I know some brutal death metal aficionados complained about the lack of 'brutal' elements on the last few albums. I just wondered why they were expecting such in the first place. The clean guitar moments on "Sullen Days" did still manage to surprise me though, and I can't tell whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I may have made a mistake myself in hoping that a Suffocation album would have solid production values for once. The focal point moving away from 'brutal' death metal isn't wholly to blame either. They've always had issues - Breeding The Spawn, their self-titled, Blood Oath, and now Pinnacle. I can overlook a bad production on a personal level as I did with their previous releases, and usually in the end I find elements I like about the album. However this is a review and no matter how much I try to sugarcoat it, the production is still shitty. The drums click like the sound of a mechanical keyboard and the guitars are all treble. At least they have gain and their tones make them distinctly audible while casual listening even if the mix is muddy. Overall it sounds ugly and unappealing though - not something I want to hear out of any album let alone a Suffocation one. Ironically fitting, this album features a rerecorded track from the aforementioned Breeding The Spawn too.

Essentially Pinnacle Of Bedlam looks and sounds like a typical Nuclear Blast release with an undercurrent of Suffocation greatness to it. While the songwriting is standard fare, the production and presentation is subpar. A predictable shame.

6.0 out of 10

Tracklisting:
1. Cycles of Suffering
2. Purgatorial Punishment
3. Eminent Wrath
4. As Grace Descends
5. Sullen Days
6. Pinnacle of Bedlam
7. My Demise
8. Inversion
9. Rapture of Revocation

Listen // Buy

Guttural Secrete - Nourishing The Spoil

I've seen people slamming the new release from these Nevada natives for its occasional use of melody and less "brutal" elements. I didn't think Reek Of Pubescent Despoilment was by any means an original album, and while it was alright, it hardly stood out in my memory as anything more than a fun diversion.

Nourishing The Spoil is a bit different. While the production is a bit flimsier and less bass heavy than its predecessor, the added melodic elements actually encourage me as a listener to go back and enjoy the album. They're not abundant, and they're not intrusive either. They pop up when the time is right to create a cathartic release of tension that builds naturally from all the chromatic silliness that brutal death metal tends to entail. It's a welcome addition to a sound that has, by over a decade ago, been played out.

Nourishing The Spoil does happen to have many predictable brutal death metal elements however. Pinch squealies, stupid samples, and plenty of time signature changes populate what would otherwise be a pretty run of the mill death metal album. Many of the early tracks on Nourishing The Spoil are forgettable for this reason, oft playing to stereotypes rather than to the interesting dynamics of the second half of the album. This isn't inherently a bad thing, but the weak mixing saps all brutality from them.

"Deadened Prior To Coitus" is Guttural Secrete's first real foray into new territory, and it is a successful one. Clean electric guitar parts lead into a typical brutal death metal section that builds to an quick, dissonant "1-2-3-1-2-1" chord progression. Despite being dissonant, the melodic element of playing chords makes these parts feel cathartic. This dynamic rears its deformed head again on the closer "Clotting The Vacant Stare," which is an album highlight for this reason. I don't know how I feel about the stupid synthesizer outro, but the rest of the track is great.

The use of (more than power) chords occasionally pops up on the more "brutal" tracks, but I wish it would show through even more. It's an idea that could use more development and puts Guttural Secrete in an precarious position as a brutal death metal band. If they could clean up the production a bit and expand on the melodic element I would be greatly interested in hearing their next release. It might alienate some longtime fans, but the subgenre is so saturated as is that I don't think it really matters.

6.75 out of 10

Tracklisting:
1. Inhaling Corpulency
2. Stainless Conception
3. Serrated Impurities
4. Nourishing The Spoil
5. Deadened Prior To Coitus
6. Coprophilic Asphyxia
7. Truncated In Detail
8. Voyeuristic Engagement
9. Clotting The Vacant Stare

Listen // Buy

Coprocephalic - Gluttonous Chunks

Quick review time!

Generic brutal death metal name? CHECK.
Generic but slightly amusing brutal death metal album title? CHECK.
Dead Space's Necromorph creatures as album art? CHECK.
Horror film samples? CHECK.
Fun dial set to eleven? CHECK.

I don't know why I love shit like this so much. I was about to blame my low expectations and first impressions after seeing such generic album covers, but then I realized that brutal death metal has some of my favorite extreme metal conventions: chromatic riffs, guttural vocals, unpredictable time signature changes, and hooks in the form of disjointed slams or grooves. With that said, Thai-turned-States act Coprocephalic groove fucking hard. Gluttonous Chunks is a proud statement that reinventing the wheel isn't needed to have a good time. There's loads of quality riffs (see: "Scourging The Obese") and slams (closer "Embryonal Coagulated Genesis") on Gluttonous Chunks. There's even a Wormed cover, which is certified rad just like the rest of the album.

7.0 out of 10

Tracklisting:
1. Intro (The Nemesis Uprising)
2. Severe Contamination
3. Gluttonous Chunks
4. Inhuman Nerousis
5. Injected With Violent Supremacy
6. Pavement Of A Thousand Torsos
7. Pulses In Rhombus Forms (Wormed Cover)
8. Scourging The Obese
9. Concrete Exhumation
10. Embryonal Coagulated Genesis

Bandcamp

Katalepsy - Autopsychosis

Katalepsy are Russian slam gods to some, but despite my enjoyment of the sub-subgenre I don't think I've ever enjoyed one of their releases. I reluctantly tried Autopsychosis hearing that they tech'd up their style to compete with all the goodness Russia seems to be pouring out lately (7 H.Target, new Abominable Putridity, etc.). The result is more brutal death metal than slam.

If there's one element I've always thought Katalepsy nailed on their past releases, it was their absolutely incredible bass tone. It's high in the mix, overdriven yet dry, and fucking heavy. Their bassist Anatoly is the only original member of the band left and goddamn is he talented. His fingerpicked basslines are the powerhouse behind every track on the obliteration machine that is Autopsychosis. They literally carve canyons into the earth upon which musical blood spills in rivers.

High register, time-signature-changing melodies aren't unheard of in slam, but the predominance of them on Autopsychosis in place of a consistent underlying groove is what makes it feel like less of slam album and more of a brutal death metal one. Opener "Lurking In The Depth" is a great example of this, being filled with a bunch of harmonic melodies. That's not to mention that the entire album is littered with pinch harmonics and chromatic riffing. You'd have to be psychotic (pun intended) to expect otherwise.

Nearly every track on Autopsychosis is memorable and thematically fitting. Slams occasionally pop up in rudimentary form, altering time signatures and playing to expectations. Potentially my favorite track on the album, "Cold Flesh Citadel" is rife with groove and descends into a prototypically beautiful slam at the end. It's followed by "The Pulse Of Somnambulist" which is equally compelling and bisected by a similar breakdown of convention. Short solos are interspersed throughout the album, but the guitarwork in general is impressive and fills any musical masturbation needs you may have. I know because I have quite a lot when it comes to brutal and technical death metal.

After awhile I would think this kind of music would become stale, but Katalepsy manage to needle your auditory receptors with little bits of groove during each riff, and then yank on them when they've got enough under your skin. I get pulled back into river of gore just in time to hit the rapids. Even the latter tracks on Autopsychosis have this effect. "Gore Conspiracy," slam-ringer "Amongst Phantom Worlds," and "Taedium Vitae" are all equals to their early occurring counterparts. The vocalist Igor is primarily to blame for this intoxicating effect, and his myriad styles carry the groove when the music wants to deviate, keeping the listener involved in the album.

The sound engineers at the Cosmos Studio in Moscow have outdone their previous efforts with Cephalic Impurity. Autopsychosis sounds phenomenal. It is surprisingly clean which I can see putting off some old fans and some individuals in search of dirty brutal death metal. The guitars are crunchy yet clear, the bass is brilliantly mixed, and drums are crisp. There's no ridiculous snare sounds here (sadly), and I guess the kicks could use a bit more 'oomph' to them, but for the most part this production works wonderfully.

Autopsychosis is a change of heart for me, and I would imagine for the band too having gone from playing slam to a more brutal death metal oriented style. Hopefully their next is as addicting as this one.

Disclaimer: I did not once listen to this while hitting the gym. Should get on that.

8.25 out of 10

Tracklisting:
1. Lurking In The Depth
2. Evidence Of Near Death (E.N.D.)
3. Body Bags For The Gods
4. Cold Flesh Citadel
5. The Pulse Of Somnambulist
6. Unearthly Urge To Supremacy
7. Gore Conspiracy
8. Amongst Phantom Worlds
9. Needles Of Hypocrisy (Interlude)
10. Knifed Humility
11. Taedium Vitae

Listen // Buy

So brutal it's retarded

Do you want to keep your limbs?

If you answered yes to the above question, then do NOT listen to this album. Putridity recently released their sophomore effort, Degenerating Anthropophagical Euphoria, and it's only left a trail of disembodied corpses in its wake. The album pretty much sounds like the title - a churning maelstrom of brutality that slams your maggot-infested body against the wall and ceaselessly defiles it.

The album starts off with a pretty standard opener filled with staples of the album: extremely fast, blasting drums and screeching pinch-harmonics. This might turn off some of you who have no balls or listen to shit like Keep Of Kalessin (synonymous really), but in reality that's pretty standard fare as far as brutal and slam death metal goes. Whatever state your genitalia are in, there's plenty here to enjoy.

The riffing is filled with plenty of descending progressions that are altogether heavy and typical of brutal death metal. The slamming Putridity is known for is present but it doesn't become apparent until later in the album where each song degenerates from speedy downtuned riffing and blasts into crushing, hammerfisted slams. This is most apparent on the track, "Innate Butchery Aptitude," which was one of the first songs composed for Degenerating Anthropophagical Euphoria. There's a lot less slams overall than their previous album, but this one really has the ferocity and brutality that the previous album lacked in spots nailed down. Plus, the slams here are pretty complex and will have you shaking your head as you try to headbang to the off-time riffs

As a whole the album has a pretty general brutal death metal styIe going on, with gore and cannibalism being the key lyrical themes on the album, but it's all executed so well. Hell the song "Draining Necro Anal Disgorgement" ends with what really does sound like someone dumped their entrails out of their ass. My biggest complaint about Degenerating Anthropophagical Euphoria is that on the first half of the album the ferociously fast riffs and drumming mask the brutality and make the songs almost seem to blend together. Luckily that issue is cleared up with "Masturbating The Infibulated" and it continues to be a non-issue for the rest of the album.

Overall if you're looking for a new slab of brutal death metal, Putridity's Degenerating Anthropophagical Euphoria is the way to go. It's got all the staples and it's own thematic flare, and not to mention it's fucking disgustingly heavy. I'm sick of listening to brutal death metal albums (see: Banishment, new Deeds Of Flesh, shitty Mortician) just to laugh at weak guitars and shitty Meshuggah-esque slam rhythms. This album has neither and will rip your face off just like Defeated Sanity did for me with Psalms Of The Moribund. I definitely recommend it!

8.75 out of 10


Tracklisting:

1.	Cannibalistic Postclimax Flesh Consumption
2.	Sodomize Epileptic Chunks
3.	Masturbating the Infibulated
4.	Syphilic Menstrual Rejection
5.	Wallowing in Aftermaths
6.	Euphoric State of Dementia
7.	Innate Butchery Aptitude
8.	Draining Necro Anal Disgorgement
9.	Living Decomposition