Interview: SAVAGE NECROMANCY

Over the course of an EP, a split and debut full length Feathers Fall to Flames, Phoenix, AZ’s Savage Necromancy have blazed a path of bestial black/death metal devastation that shows no signs of letting up or slowing down. The band recently re-released Feathers Fall to Flames via the venerable 20 Buck Spin and after just a few years of existence are already poised to take the metal scene at large by storm with their knack for crafting songs that are catchy and memorable without forsaking any of the crushing ultraviolence the genre is known for. In honor of the re-release, I caught up with guitarist/songwriter Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations via email to discuss Savage Necromancy’s plans for world domination.

THKD: For readers that might not be familiar, tell us about the formation of Savage Necromancy.  How did the band come to be and what goals did you have in mind when starting out?

Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations: The Grand Marshall of Hell and myself started this band just with the intention of making heavy straight-forward war metal songs. We had absolutely no goals besides working on being tight before playing shows and to put out a demo. 

THKD: You released your debut album Feathers Fall to Flames last year.  What was your mindset going into the writing and recording of the album and what did you hope to accomplish?

Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations: My mindset in writing was to create very intense and razor-sharp black metal and to solidify us as a more serious band than what was previously shown on our demo and split. It was intentional to start adding more variation to our black metal with SE Asian/Brazil and black/thrash influences. 

THKD: What is the songwriting process like for Savage Necromancy?  Is there a single primary writer or do you work on the songs as a band?

Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations: For the most part I write all the songs (the intro track was written by Grand Marshall of Hell). When I am satisfied with a song being complete we practice it. Lyrics don’t really come into play until we record. I would say I write the majority of the lyrics on the new album and GMOH arranges and structures the vocal patterns. Lately for our other band we have been writing and demoing the songs on a DAW before practicing them as a band so we might do the same for the remainder of the full-length tracks.  

THKD: One thing that immediately impressed me about Feathers Fall to Flames is that it is violent and brutal but still manages to be very catchy and riff-driven.  Was this intentional or just a natural evolution of the band’s approach to songwriting?

Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations: It’s intentional. We want to be razor-sharp and have strong memorable songs including more influence from other styles of bestial black metal.  I see a few comments saying this is not war metal because we are not chaotic enough and that’s fine, this is our evolution of where we want our black metal to go.  

THKD: Feathers Fall to Flames is being reissued by 20 Buck Spin.  How did you come in contact with the label?  Will you be releasing any other material through them?

Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations: Yes, we were currently writing the next full-length for 20 Buck Spin! I believe what happened was Nate from Spirit Adrift told Dave [Adelson, owner of 20 Buck Spin] about us and Dave was interested, and Rippy (our friend who recorded this album) relayed the message to us. We contacted Dave and it was a very smooth process and we are extremely happy to be on the label. 

THKD: You released your debut ep in 2019, followed by the split with Genocidal Sodomy in 2020 and Feathers Fall to Flames in 2021.  Are you currently working on any new material and if so when can fans expect to hear it?

Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations: Yes as mentioned before writing another full-length for 20 Buck Spin, we are maybe 2-3 songs deep into it so far. I imagine this will take a while so hopefully by Fall/Winter of next year. 

THKD: What does the rest of 2022 have in store for Savage Necromancy?  Are there any live shows/tours in the works to support the reissue of Feathers Fall to Flames?

Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations: As of writing this I can’t give exact details yet, but yes there are plans for all of these! 

THKD: Savage Necromancy hails from Phoenix, Arizona.  How would you describe the metal scene in your home city/state?  What new bands from the area should readers be on the lookout for?

Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations: Be on the lookout for Moribund Dawn, mystical & imperial Swedish style Black Metal praising Vinterland, Dawn, & Dissection! 

THKD: It seems as though in recent years there has been a proliferation of war metal or bestial black/death metal bands coming out of the US and Canada.  Why do you think this is?  Do you consider Savage Necromancy to be part of that movement?

Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations: I don’t know honestly, and history will tell! 

THKD: I often see Savage Necromancy being compared favorably to Archgoat online.  Do you consider them to be a primary influence?  What other bands have inspired you?

Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations: Archgoat has for sure been a primary influence on this band and we don’t hide it. In Feathers Fall To Flames further in writing the album I was being more influenced by bands like Impiety and Nifelheim and I see our progression going more towards this sort of bestial black/thrash influenced path. 

THKD: What are you currently listening to and what are your favorite releases of 2022 so far?  Do you have any recommendations for THKD’s readers?

Conjurer of Putrid Desecrations: I’m currently listening to the same Chemlab song on repeat. Very much been on an industrial and old-school EBM kick lately. I’m in full-on riff writing mode now and I don’t like listening to adjacent stuff to what I’m making (especially if it’s recent) 

THKD: Are there any final thoughts you’d like to add?

Black Metal Victory!! 

Special thanks to Earsplit PR for arranging this interview.

Quartering – The Purulent Exudate of Corrupted Flesh (Barbaric Brutality, 2022)

As the years go on, brutal death metal continues to evolve and mutate in the most weird and wonderful ways. One of the latest and greatest examples of this is Ohio’s Quartering, a one-man project that’s ready to warp the ever-living fuck out of your feeble brain with his debut ep, The Purulent Exudate of Corrupted Flesh, out now via Sacramento, CA-based death metal label Barbaric Brutality.

By combining brutal death metal with electronic elements that sound as if they may be at least partially derived from genres as varied as hip hop, industrial music and noise, Quartering bring an experimental edge to the genre without losing sight of the importance of being heavy as fuck. Even at its weirdest, The Purulent Exudate of Corrupted Flesh sounds like it’s on the verge of collapsing space and time, ready to drag the listener into the maw of the black hole.

In spite of clocking in at just under ten minutes, the EP is surprisingly immersive and leaves you craving more. Quartering knows how to pack a lot of atmosphere and intrigue into these short song lengths and listeners will pick up on new elements with repeat listens. The rough-around-the-edges yet clear production scheme perfectly suits the four short tracks and works to emphasize Quartering’s strengths as a player and composer.

The Purulent Exudate of Corrupted Flesh is an intriguing opening statement from a project that oozes with creativity and potential. If Quartering is able to bring this level of mind-mangling excellence to the table with a short EP, Satan help us all whenever he decides to put out a full length, because it will probably bring about the singularity.

Julie Laughs Nomore – From the Mist of Ruins (Vile Music, 2001)

I don’t recall exactly how I discovered long-defunct melodic death metal quintet Julie Laughs Nomore; it could have been while traveling down a Metal Archives rabbit hole, or perhaps perusing a random list of melodic death metal albums on Rate Your Music. Struck by their weird-ass band name (I’m not a big Candlemass fan so I had no idea that’s where they got it from), I went to check them out on YouTube and was blown away by what I heard. After much digging, I found a CD copy of their second album From the Mist of the Ruins for a ridiculously reasonable price and it has been one of my favorite melodic death metal albums ever since.

If you’ve never heard From the Mist of the Ruins, I’ll start by saying that Julie Laughs Nomore possess a sound that should have made them huge. Combing sweeping, epic guitar melodies and devastating straight-up death metal passages with a light yet zesty sprinkle of heavy/power metal influence and just a dash of black metal, the band did much to separate themselves from the hordes of melodeath bands that flooded the market from the mid-nineties to the mid two-thousands. I can only assume that the misfortune of being signed to a series of fly-by-night micro labels hampered their ability to get the attention they deserved; I’m sure the oddball band name and rather hideous album art probably didn’t help matters.

Whatever the case, the album is one of the true hidden gems of early 2000s extreme metal thanks not only to Julie Laughs Nomore’s unique approach to melodeath, but also due their expert craftsmanship. These guys were excellent songwriters and musicians, which makes it absolutely criminal that songs such as “Children of the Empty Cross” “Bringer of Misery” and “From the Mist of the Ruins” have still yet to be heard and embraced by a larger audience. From the exquisite riffage to the highly varied vocal approach that features everything from higher-pitched rasps, to low growls, to rough-around-the-edges cleans that somewhat recall Emperor-era Ihsahn, every element of From the Mist of the Ruins is meticulously placed and perfectly executed.

While the band’s musical chops and knack for great melodies are certainly key to the album’s success, one the greatest aspects of From the Mist of the Ruins is the fact that Julie Laughs Nomore aren’t afraid to put the death in melodic death metal. Whereas many bands of the era were far more concerned with the melodic side of things, Julie Laughs Nomore were more than capable of bringing the brutality, as on the aforementioned “Children of the Empty Cross;” the ultra-heavy passage that kicks off at the 01:53 mark accompanied by dueling death growls is enough to cave in the skulls of most mortals. On the back half of the album “Lords of Pleasure” begins with hefty chromatic chugging before morphing into speedy tremolo riffs, with some of the album’s most wicked vocals tying it all together. These are just a few examples of Julie Laughs Nomore at their heaviest; rest assured that similar moments are found throughout From the Mist of the Ruins, making for an album that’s both catchy and crushing.

Produced and engineered by Jonas Kjellgren (Scar Symmetry, The Absence, Centinex), From the Mist of the Ruins sounds great; guitars and vocals dominate the mix with the drums and bass playing a supporting role, which makes perfect sense for a band who’s two greatest strengths are stellar guitar-work and a multi-pronged vocal attack. If there is one gripe to be had, it’s that the bass drum could use a little more oomph, but aside from that, Kjellgren’s production work here is as masterful as the band’s writing and playing, emphasizing everything that makes From the Mist of the Ruins such a stellar slab of melodic death metal.

Sadly, Julie Laughs Nomore never got their due while they were an active band and it doesn’t seem as if they’re going to get the reappraisal they so desperately deserve anytime soon. It’s a damn shame too, because From the Mist of the Ruins is far more deserving of a deluxe reissue than roughly 99.9% of the crummy third and fourth tier OSDM albums that get such extravagant treatment. I guess it’s a case of those who know, know for the time being, but at least maybe the five people who read this review will become new fans of one of the most underrated melodic death metal albums in the multiverse.

Snuffed Freaks and Decomposed Cadavers: The Legend of Torsofuck

WARNING: The following post is NSFW as fuck. If you’re easily offended, it might be better if you sit this one out.

Sometime in the year 1995, the great country of Finland gave anal birth to one of the greatest/shittiest bands ever to walk (stalk?) the Earth. That band was Torsofuck. An absolutely repellent combination of the most offensive, knuckle-dragging aspects of slamming brutal death metal and goregrind, the band blazed a path of musical and lyrical deviance off and on for nearly a decade-and-a-half before finally, mercifully calling it a day for good back in 2009, not counting a posthumous limited live cassette release that was only purchased by pale-skinned basement dwellers that own all four pressings of Gut’s Odour of Torture and can’t wait to tell you all about it.

But what did Torsofuck leave us with after almost fifteen years in the game? Actually, not much. A demo, two splits and a full-length is all they could muster in that length of time, but let’s face it, it can’t be easy concocting music this boneheaded/brilliant. I mean, that shit has to take effort.

Anyway, after releasing the High Level of Cannibalistic Violence demo that no one actually heard and a split with Vomitorial Corpulence that was actually heard by no one, Torsofuck finally made it big in 2002 with the Disgusting Gore and Pathology/Polymorphisms to Severe Sepsis and Trauma (that’s not a goddamn mouthful, nope, not at all), a split with the legendary Brazilian goregrinders Lymphatic Phlegm on Bizarre Leprous Productions. For those that aren’t familiar, Bizarre Leprous is like the Nuclear Blast of goregrind labels, so the world at large would finally get a chance to experience the genius of vocalist/guitarist/bassist Mikko Friberg and guitarist/drum programmer Jarkko Haapala in all it’s fucked up, repugnant glory.

Indeed, Torsofuck made the most of the of opportunity and wasted no time in taking a big steaming dump in listeners’ earholes on Disgusting Gore…, kicking things off with the utterly putrid “Fistfucking Her Decomposed Cadaver,” a song dominated by drums that sound like a pissed-off secretary in the 1950’s pounding the ever-living shit out of a typewriter and some of the most toilety toilet vocals you’re probably ever going to hear. Yes, the guitars are in there playing third fiddle to the drums and vox, mostly playing riffs that I’d refer to as “caveman riffs,” but that would be an insult to cavemen and they aren’t here to defend themselves, so that hardly seems fair. Well, except for Caveman Cult, but I don’t think those guys are even real cavemen! Talk about false advertising…

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, that’s right, the rest of Torsofuck’s side of the split goes on for three more tracks in much the same vein as “Fistfucking Her Decomposed Cadaver,” although “Craving for a Fresh Shit” does feature what might be the most inept lead guitar work in human history during it’s final stretch and “Cannibal” (a very out of character tame song title) does add some vocals that sound like a pig rooting around in its own feces to go along with the aforementioned toilet vocals, because clearly Torsofuck were all about thoughtful, nuanced songwriting.

Of course, the split with Lymphatic Phlegm was merely a rancid taste of what was to come. In 2004 Torsofuck would release their magnum opus, the shit-splattered plat du jour known as Erotic Diarrhea Fantasy. In the two years since Disgusting Pathology… the duo somehow managed to get heavier, uglier, dumber and even more disgusting, shitting out one of the sickest, most sexually depraved metal albums of all time.

“Mutilated for Sexual Purposes” begins with a porn sample that’s almost as long as the song itself before the brain-mangling morass of brutal slamming goregrind comes surging forward, covering everything in its path with buckets of blood, guts, piss and other fluids best left unmentioned. The production isn’t exactly better than that of the Lymphatic Phlegm split, but it is louder and gnarlier, with the guitars more prominent in the mix and bathed in distortion that’s so thick ‘n’ chunky you could stand a fork up in it. The kick drum still sounds pretty typewritery, but it’s pushed back in the mix this time around, making it far less irritating.

While Erotic Diarrhea Fantasy certainly benefitted from the heavier production scheme, Friberg and Haapala’s (d)evolution as both players and songwriters also played a huge part in the album’s success. Torsofuck had reached their final form here, striking a perfect, perverse balance between the lizard-brain tickling violence of brutal slamming death metal and the sewage-gurgling sickness of goregrind. I mean, this shit is right up there with Citizen Kane, Moby Dick and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in terms of artistic achievement.

Torsofuck also perfected their lyrical prowess on Erotic Diarrhea Fantasy, as evidenced by what is surely one of the greatest songs in the history of recorded music, “Raped By Elephants.” The track begins with a sample from Freddy Got Fingered (the scene where Tom Green’s character jerks off an elephant, naturally) before spewing memorable gems such as;

I sucked like a whore while I was assfucked by elephant trunk

After all it wasnt too bad at all

It took only about ten minutes and cock in my mouth started to cum

Extremely huge load of elephant sperm filled my throat and

Spurted all over my face

I was completely fucked up, but elephants had one more thing to do

All three of them huffed and puffed shits on me

Then they left me alone with my ripped asshole

I’ll never go to Africa again

Erotic Diarrhea Fantasy was Torsofuck’s final studio output and how could it not be? There’s simply no way in hell they could’ve topped such a masterpiece. In the years since its release, the album has attained something of a cult following among those that crave the the lewdest and most degenerate sounds known to man and has been reissued several times on various formats by well known underground labels such as American Line Productions, Morbid Generation Records and Gore House Productions.

At the end of the day, it’s difficult to say how or why Torsofuck were motivated to make such morally corrupt metal magic; I could only find two interviews with the band online and one appears to be in German while the other reads like two malfunctioning Twitter bots attempting to carry on a conversation, so god only knows what was going through their heads when they decided to write songs about elephant rape and anal sex with corpses. But make magic they did, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the metal scene is pretty much the worst goddamn thing to ever happen to human civilization.

Shock Withdrawal – s/t (Selfmadegod Records, 2022)

Maruta is a band that’s near and dear to my heart. Not only did they release three albums worth of blistering grindcore that are among my favorites of the genre, but they were also early supporters of my written endeavors, graciously granting me interviews in 2008 and 2011. Hell, they were the opening band at the show I met my wife at! Needless to say, I’m pretty stoked to report that Maruta vocalist Mitchell Luna is fronting a new band called Shock Withdrawal and they’ve come blasting out of the gate with a positively ripping self-titled debut ep via grind mega-label Selfmadegod Records.

Clocking in at a brisk thirteen minutes, Shock Withdrawal is a quick ‘n’ dirty burst of death grind ultra-violence from this three-headed beast that also includes drummer Jono Garret (Turbid North, ex-The Destro) and guitarist/bassist Nick Emde (Nitesoil, White Widows Pact, ex-The Destro). Songs such as “Rejection Cycle” and “Despair Ratio” are compact killing machines designed get in, murder motherfucking everyone and get out in as little time as possible. Indeed, Shock Withdrawal’s songwriting economy is goddamn glorious to behold, provided your idea of glorious includes having your ear canals flayed by some of the gnarliest, meanest grindcore you’re gonna hear in 2022.

But just because the ep is short, brutal and bludgeoning by its very nature doesn’t mean it lacks nuance. Sure, Emde and Garret throw down with pummeling riff-slaughter while Luna spews his corrosive vocals like a man possessed who’s spent all day drinking battery acid, but the songwriting is also highly dynamic and Shock Withdrawal aren’t afraid to let off the gas when needed, even going full-on sludge metal for closing track “Guided By Paranoia,” just to make extra-sure that your skull has been crushed into a fine powder by the time all is said and done.

Recorded by Travis Bacon (Mutilation Rites, Ruin Lust) and Jamie King (Glass Casket, Through the Eyes of the Dead) with mastering by Arthur Rizk (Cirith Ungol, Power Trip), it should come as no surprise that Shock Withdrawal sounds heavy as all hell. This thing is thick as a brick, but there is still plenty of separation between each instrument and the vocals, allowing one to appreciate the full scope of the trio’s relentless assault. The production is perfectly suited to what Shock Withdrawal are trying to accomplish here, bridging the gap between old school grinding filth and modern death metal fury.

All of this is to say that Shock Withdrawal’s debut is a nasty little slab o’ grindcore that’s perfect for genre enthusiasts looking for a quick kick in the teeth. Fans of the likes of Napalm Death, Nasum and of course Maruta will feel right at home within the ep’s violent confines, while everyone else will have no choice but to either step out of the way or get stepped on repeatedly until there’s nothing left but a puddle of blood and guts.

Oodles of Brutals XIII: My Brutal Dark Twisted Fantasy

Goddamn, it’s been almost two years since the last installment of OOB! Of course my YouTube channel has been covering much of what I’d normally cover in one of these for the last little while, but whatever the case, it has been far too long since we’ve rounded up all things brutal and bludgeoning in one convenient spot here at the THKD mothership. So without further ado, let’s break out the shovels and start digging…

Corpsegrinder – s/t (Perseverance Music Group, 2022) Hot off the success of Cannibal Corpse’s excellent Violence Unimagined, vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher has decided to strike out on his own with his first solo album, appropriately titled Corpsegrinder. Produced by Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta and backed by guitarist Charlie Bellmore (Dee Snider, ex-Toxic Holocaust) and drummer Nick Bellmore (Dee Snider, ex-Toxic Holocaust), the album is a catchier-than-herpes thirty-two minute slab of death metal, but it ultimately suffers due to the fact that it lacks the merciless, pummeling brutality and frantic yet precise technicality of prime Cannibal Corpse. Granted, it probably isn’t fair to compare what is likely just meant be a fun one-off side project to the mighty CC, but when you’re working with the vocalist for one of the best death metal bands on the planet, the comparisons are all but inevitable.

Indeed, Corpsegrinder might not quite measure up to the impossibly high standards of the likes of Violence Unimagined, Vile or Kill, but it’s still plenty enjoyable thanks to the memorable if simplistic songwriting and Fisher as usual puts everything he’s got into the vocals on tracks such as “On Wings of Carnage” “Crimson Proof” and “Defined by your Demise.” The Bellmore brothers do a fine job of laying down tracks for Fisher to growl over and most of the cuts feature a refrain or riff that will at least get lodged in your skull for a few days, even if they won’t completely hammer smash your face.

As expected, Corpsegrinder sounds great; every instrument is allowed space in the mix and Fisher’s vocals are front and center without being overpowering. If there’s one gripe to be had, it’s that the guitars could use a wee bit more heft in order to fully maximize the skull-cracking heaviness the album is clearly aiming for. Given the appearance of death metal uber-producer Erik Rutan on “Acid Vat,” it might have been wise to have him stick around and assist with beefing things up a bit more ala the last few Cannibal Corpse albums.

Cannibal Corpse diehards will no doubt want to add this album to their collection based solely on Fisher’s involvement, but for the casual fan, Corpsegrinder will likely fall into the category of an amusing but ultimately inessential listen.

Bludgeoned – Summary Execution (Vile Tapes, 2022) Hailing from Shelton, WA, Bludgeoned are something of a supergroup in the making, featuring seventeen year old brutal death metal wunderkind Nikhil Talwalkar (Anal Stabwound, Undeciphered) on drums, ex-I Declare War and Pathology vocalist Jon Huber and ex-Covidectomy guitarist Sean May. On their debut EP Summary Execution, the trio whip up a ferociously fun slab of slamming brutality that will have you headbanging uncontrollably, throwing the furniture around and swinging dead cats in no time.

Bludgeoned don’t do anything you haven’t heard before on Summary Execution, but it’s how they do it that makes them stand out from the brutal death metal pack. Each performance is nothing short of topnotch; Talwalkar is a prodigy on the drums and his relentless attack drives the EP forward, while May lays down some totally sick riffage that makes him a guitarist to keep an eye on, and it’s always a pleasure to hear Huber’s impossibly deep vomit vox spewing flesh-eating acid over everything that gets in their way. These guys know how to bring the pain in ways that are as memorable as they are vicious and the band sounds lean, mean and hungry throughout the EP’s all-too-brief run-time.

Although Summary Execution doesn’t even surpass the fifteen minute mark, it’s enough to know that these guys are onto something great and it’s only a matter of time before they get picked up by a bigger label like Severed or Comatose and grind us all into fucking powder with a full length. Until that day comes, songs like “Circadian Servitude” and “Genocidal Processes” hit hard enough to make your soul leave your body. The EP is out now via Vile Tapes and limited to just one hundred copies, so don’t sleep.

Fatuous Rump – Perceptions of the Dark Ornaments (Lacerated Enemy Records, 2021) What exactly is a “fatuous rump?” The world may never know, but what we do know is that Fatuous Rump is yet another product of the sick-ass mind of Larry Wang, the man behind Gorepot, Facelift Deformation, Lesbian Tribbing Squirt and roughly one billion other really gross projects that mostly appeal to weird, pale-skinned basement dwellers that can’t wait to tell you about how they own all three of Cock and Ball Torture’s full lengths on vinyl.

While Perceptions of the Dark Ornaments is a fine enough bit of slamming brutality, it ultimately feels a bit run-of-the-mill in comparison to some of Wang’s other projects; Fatuous Rump lacks the bizarre humor of Gorepot, the ferocity of Maggot Colony, or the grinding perversity of Lesbian Tribbing Squirt, and at forty minutes it’s just too damn long for such a bog standard slam album. Additionally, the slams aren’t particularly memorable and the songwriting as a whole feels rather lackluster.

At the end of the day, Perceptions of the Dark Ornaments isn’t a bad album, it’s just kind of there and doesn’t really do anything to differentiate itself from the five thousand other slam albums being released every month that sound just like it. File this one under “for slam ultra-ultra-ultra fanatics and Larry Wang worshippers only.”

200 Stab Wounds – Slave to the Scalpel (Maggot Stomp, 2021) Alright, now we’re fucking getting somewhere! 200 Stab Wounds’ debut full length got hyped to the high heavens last year, which is why I avoided it until recently; I find in these situations it’s best to wait until the hype dies down. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with Slave to the Scalpel, I can safely say that it for the most part lives up to the hype. Coming off like a hybrid of the Cannibal Corpse school of OG brutal death metal and the groovy, slamming style of Internal Bleeding, 200 Stab Wounds manage to hit all the sweet spots in just under half an hour, making death metal that’s insanely catchy and compact.

Folks who’ve been following THKD since the beginning know that I’m all about craftsmanship over originality and 200 Stab Wounds are well on their way to becoming expert brutal death metal craftsman if tracks like “Skin Milk” “Stifling Stew” and “Drilling Your Head” are anything to go by. The band wear their influences on their sleeve, but they also take those influences and use them to craft something that can stand on its own; there’s always something to be said for that, especially when the end result is this crushing.

Slave to the Scalpel is one of the better brutal death metal debuts I’ve heard in the last few years and as with Bludgeoned, I wouldn’t be surprised if a bigger label takes notice of 200 Stab Wounds before too long and decides to strap a rocket to their collective back. If these guys continue to hone their craft, they could very easily come to be sitting atop the new wave of death metal heap in a few years time; that might not be saying much when one considers some of the competition, but that shouldn’t take anything away from the fact that 200 Stab Wounds are uh, killing it at the moment and show no signs of letting up.

Well folks, that wraps it up for another edition of Oodles of Brutals; hopefully it won’t be another two years before the next one drops. As always, many thanks to all the bands, labels and PR peeps for sending me stuff to cover, and to all the readers that have followed along despite the erratic publishing schedule. If there are any bands you’d like to see covered in a future installment of OOB, drop me a line in the comments and until next time, STAY BRUTAL.

Leaving Las Vegas, or Lost, Found and Salem, OR Bound.

We’ve lived in Las Vegas for a little under a year. Well, technically we live in Henderson, NV, but you have to go into Las Vegas to do anything cool. Living here was always meant to be temporary, but it turned out to be a little more temporary than we anticipated for a number of reasons that I’m not going to go into here, because I like to keep it posi.

While I’m not terribly sad to be leaving, I will say that I’m sad I never got to experience the music scene here thanks to our pal COVID. There have been shows, but I’m just not comfortable going to them yet due to this pandemic we’ve all been dealing with for what seems like forever. When I first moved to Sacramento, CA, I started going to shows and checking out the local venues almost immediately, so it’s been really strange not to be able to do that here.

Although I haven’t been going to shows, I have been spending a lot of time at the local record stores, specifically Zia Records, which has two great locations in Vegas. They remind me a lot of Sacramento’s dearly departed Dimple Records, so I’ve been very happy to have at least one thing that feels familiar during our time here. Another great shop out here in the desert is Primitive Recordings, which is run by Roger Beaujard of Mortician fame. I didn’t get to go there nearly as often I would have liked to, but it was a pleasure meeting Roger and loading up on Mortician merch and other goodies; if you’re a metalhead and you’re ever in Vegas, definitely stop by his store, especially if you’ve got a taste for death metal.

I wish I had more to say about our time in Vegas, but I’m honestly at a loss as I type this. I’m glad I had the experience of living here, because I have gotten to see and do some really cool shit, but I’m also ready to move on.

Our next stop is Salem, OR. From what little research I’ve been able to do, it doesn’t seem like there’s much of a metal scene there (I just might have to figure out how to start one). Metal Archives lists thirty-six bands from Salem, but many of them seem to be split up or inactive. There are a few live music venues, but none of them appear to really cater to metal with the exception of some one-off shows here and there. I have noticed some good punk shows rolling through, such as MDC and Agent Orange, and we’ve already got tickets to see Warduna in October, so I’m hopeful that we’ll still be able to get our live music fix, even if it isn’t a constant barrage of metal.

Of course, the great news is we’re only about forty-five minutes from Portland and unsurprisingly it appears that’s where all the action is when it comes to metal in Oregon. From what I’ve seen, it looks like tons of great tours roll through there, and to be completely honest, I’m fine with having to drive a little ways to go to a show, because it means I live away from all the hustle and bustle of the “big city.” At this stage of my life I think I might finally be ready for a little peace and quiet.

So, in the last few years I’ll have gone from being pretty well immersed in Sacramento’s metal scene, to not being able to immerse myself in Las Vegas’ metal scene, to being just a short drive away from Portland’s metal scene. It’s going to be an interesting transition and I’m curious to see how it affects my writing, if at all. Only time will tell, but I’m excited for what the future may hold.

Devoured Elysium – Void Grave (Gore House Productions, 2022)

If you follow my YouTube channel, you’ll know that Southern California-based label Gore House Production has been absolutely killing it lately when it comes to all things brutal and slamming. From the looks of things, it doesn’t appear they intend on letting up anytime soon, as evidenced by Void Grave, the second album from Izmir, Turkey’s Devoured Elysium.

Formed in 2017, Devoured Elysium play brutal death metal of the slamming variety, but they pepper their assault with interesting technical flourishes, as well as some well-placed synths that do much to support the band’s penchant for sci-fi themes. “Green Screen Failure” begins with a full-on symphonic melody before the crushing slams come in just after the thirty-second mark, while the title track incorporates some spacey synths in the background. These are but two examples of the little things Devoured Elysium do throughout Void Grave‘s all-too-brief twenty-seven minutes to stand out from the pack, and it is this attention to minute details that help make it such an entertaining listen.

The production on Void Grave is plenty heavy, yet there is also a cold, almost mechanical feeling to it; it really does feel as if these songs were recorded deep within the vacuum of space. There have been a ton of science fiction-oriented brutal death metal bands popping over the last decade or so, but Devoured Elysium work harder than most at ensuring their sound actually fits with the lyrical and visual aspects of their presentation. In this respect the quartet are the complete package; a band who’s output looks, feels and sounds like it came from some dark and distant galaxy.

Devoured Elysium have a damn fine slamming brutal death metal album on their hands with Void Grave and Gore House Productions have maintained their streak of killer releases. I’d love for these guys to more fully incorporate the synth/sci-fi elements into the songs, as opposed to mostly relegating them to intros and outros, but that’s a minor gripe about an otherwise excellent release that fans of the likes Abominable Putridity, Analepsy and 7H. Target would do well to check out ASAP.

https://gorehouseproductions.bandcamp.com/album/void-grave

Amorphis – Halo (Atomic Fire Records, 2022)

Amorphis have done it again. The long-running Finnish sextet have been virtually unstoppable ever since vocalist extraordinaire Tomi Joutsen came aboard for 2006’s stunning Eclipse, and on their fourteenth(!) album Halo they show absolutely no signs whatsoever of letting up or tiring out, delivering yet another progressive metal masterpiece for fans to sink their teeth into.

As I stated in my review of 2018’s Queen of Time, Amorphis’ originality and craftsmanship are their greatest assets, and both are on full display throughout Halo; tracks such as “On Dark Waters” “Windmane” and “The Wolf” are mini-epics that move from strength to strength. Indeed, the songwriting throughout Halo is nothing short of phenomenal; mixing elements of prog, death metal, power metal, folk metal and straight-up hard rock, Amorphis prove once again that they’re more than capable of weaving these various elements together flawlessly to create something utterly unique. By turns driving, uplifting, beautiful and crushing, the album’s eleven songs comprise everything that makes them such a special band.

In addition to being expertly crafted, Halo might be Amorphis’ heaviest album since 2013’s underrated Circle. Joutsen continues to make more use of his harsh vocals to excellent effect; the contrast between his deep death growls and soothing croons adds yet another facet to the band’s multi-layered approach, while guitarists Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari peel off some pretty damn thunderous riffage, particularly on “When the Gods Came” “Seven Roads Come to Together” and “War.” Of course, even at their heaviest, Amorphis never lose their sense of melody and these songs are far more likely to get stuck in your head than to smash your skull.

Produced by Jens Bogren (Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquility, Opeth, etc.), it should come as no surprise that Halo sounds absolutely fantastic. While previous Amorphis albums have been far from lo-fi, the production here takes their sound to a whole other level; this is the musical equivalent of Lawrence of Arabia or The Last Emperor, sweeping in scope and glorious to behold. More so than ever before, the expansiveness of Amorphis’ sound has been captured on tape, making it that much easier for listeners to fully immerse themselves in the total musical environment they so effortlessly create.

Unfortunately, the digital promo I received did not include lyrics, and while Joutsen’s vocals are easy to understand, I would hate to speculate with regard to the album’s themes without having the printed lyrics in front of me for reference. The press materials indicate that the band continues to mine the Kalevala for subject matter, once again collaborating with longtime lyricist Pekka Kainulainen and I have no doubt that there’s plenty to dig into here for anyone with a taste for the myths and legends of Finland. I can say that as always, the lyrics fit perfectly with the epic songwriting on display throughout Halo and I look forward learning about the stories behind them.

I realize that I’ve been gushing for nearly five hundred words at this point, but Amorphis have simply become one of those rare bands that can do no wrong. In spite of being over thirty years deep into their career and having nothing left to prove, they continue to refine their sound and release music of the highest possible quality. Halo is yet another wonderful chapter in the band’s legacy of excellence; one of the best albums in their storied discography and one of the best overall metal albums of 2022.

Amorphis official website

Atomic Fire Records website

Pessimist – Cult of the Initiated, Blood for the Gods, Slaughtering the Faithful (Season of Mist reissues, 2021)

In every music scene, there are always bands that continually fly under the radar no matter how much noise they make and the metal scene is no different. Formed in 1993, Baltimore, Maryland’s Pessimist is one of those great unsung bands. Although they released only three albums before breaking up in 2006 (they’ve since reformed), each one is an incendiary slab of blasting violence from a band that doesn’t get nearly enough recognition for their commitment to the fine art of brutal death metal. In 2021 Season of Mist wisely decided to re-release all three Pessimist full-lengths with remastered sound and updated artwork, bringing the quartet’s old school brutality to a wider audience and giving them a chance to be seen and heard the way they were always meant to be.

Cult of the Initiated (1997) After first hitting the scene in 1993 with their Dark Reality demo, it would take Pessimist another four years to conjure up their debut full length, Cult of the Initiated. While this is most certainly a brutal death metal album, there is also a heavy thrash influence at work, as well as just a hint of black metal, making for a singular release that doesn’t sound quite like anything else from that era. Somewhat technical but not as tightly wound as subsequent albums, Cult of the Initiated isn’t nearly as pummeling as what would follow for Pessimist, but its looseness at times recalls early Morbid Angel at their most unhinged, and that’s never a bad thing. While Cult of the Initiated might be Pessimist’s least brutal album, it is a thoroughly unique death metal listening experience that deserves to be heard.

Blood for the Gods (1999) By the time Pessimist released Blood for the Gods in 1999 they’d for the most part excised the thrash and black metal influences in favor of a more pure brutal death metal sound, resulting in what many consider to to be the band’s best album. The performances are tighter here than on Cult of the Initiated, resulting in something that’s also more straightforward than what came before, but still avoids the monotony trap by piling on the killer riffs and sick solos. Tracks such as “Demonic Embrace” “Unspeakable Terror” and “Tunnel Rats” emphasize Pessimist’s increased emphasis on speed and technicality, making for a nearly flawless brutal death metal album that still holds up over two decades later, thanks to the high degree of songwriting acumen on display throughout. Indeed, Blood for the Gods is the album where Pessimist found their signature sound and remains an impressively intense slab of technically precise yet memorable brutality.

Slaughtering the Faithful (2002) Pessimist’s third and final (so far) album is their most brutal release; listening to this thing is the musical equivalent of being hit repeatedly over the head with sledgehammers. And while the band’s continued dedication to making the most brutal death metal they possibly could is highly admirable, the over-the-top brutality ultimately makes for an album that isn’t quite as memorable as Cult of the Initiated or Blood for the Gods. That said, there’s still plenty to like about Slaughtering the Faithful; songs like “Infernal Abyss” and “Metempsychosis” are whirlwinds of unmitigated violence that were clearly designed for maximum neck-snapping, aided and abetted by an Erik Rutan production job that’s so goddamn thick you could stand up a fork in it. This is some quintessential early 2000s brutal death metal that can go toe-to-toe with the best of them.

Pessimist reformed in 2013 with a re-tooled lineup that now includes current and former members of Morbid Angel, Hideous Rebirth and Black Mass in addition to founding guitarist Kelly McLauchlin. So far they’ve yet to grace us with a comeback album, but if and when they do it’ll no doubt be a total skull-crusher. Here’s to hoping that day comes sooner than later.

https://pessimist666.bandcamp.com/

Mines of Moria – Khazad-Dum (Realityfade Records, 2022)

The UK’s Realityfade Records has a knack for digging up and releasing some pretty cool and interesting oddities in the brutal death metal/slam/deathcore realm (MDMA, Omni Express, Esophagus, etc.), and if you’re in the market for odd, one need look no further than the label’s latest find, Mines of Moria, who unleash a wicked salvo of JRR Tolkien-inspired deathcore on their debut EP Khazad-Dum.

One would expect Tolkien and deathcore to go together about as well as Disneyland and pornography, but somehow, some way, against all odds, Mines of Moria pull it off in spades for the duration of this tightly written nineteen minute EP. But how do they do it? In the case of Khazad-Dum, it’s all in the songwriting; Mines of Moria wisely choose to incorporate elements from outside the world of deathcore to create a singular atmosphere. The symphonic flourishes that punctuate both the title track and “S.H.E.L.O.B.” sound like they could’ve been lifted directly from the Lord of the Rings soundtrack.

On the deathcore side of things, Mines of Moria are plenty crushing, but they add a level of technicality that gives the listener a reprieve from the pummeling beatdowns that typify the genre. The high level of musicianship lends the EP a somewhat stately aura more befitting of Tolkien and also serves to set the band apart from the deathcore hordes. Indeed, Khazad-Dum is a heavy and brutal release, but it also possesses a level of refinement and thoughtfulness that places the band a cut above the rest in terms of both songcraft and performance.

With their debut EP, Mines of Moria present a unique, refreshing and above all fun take on deathcore that should be on any fan of the genre’s listening radar as the 2022 release schedule starts heating up. There’s an awful lot to like about Khazad-Dum and one can only hope that Mines of Moria move to even more fully integrate the cinematic elements with the deathcore elements on future releases, until they eventually morph into the deathcore version of Summoning; that would fucking rule.

https://realityfade.bandcamp.com/

Blitzkrieg #13: Return Trip

Goddamn y’all, I haven’t written one of these since 2013! But, I figured THKD’s return to active duty after a pretty meager 2021, in which I only published three reviews and zero interviews, was as good a reason as any to bring back da’ blitz.

So why the absence last year? I’ve often complained of being burned out on writing, but last year it really hit me. I worked on my YouTube channel for a bit, as well as a podcast that only lasted for two episodes in an effort to stay at least somewhat creative, but for the most part I found myself in a pandemic-induced malaise that I couldn’t seem to dig myself out of no matter what I tried.

But towards the end of 2021 I started to get reflective and remembered that I love writing and I also love metal too goddamn much to ever give up on either one. They’ve always been there for me and so I feel like I need to be there for them. I might not be the best writer out there and I definitely might not be as good as I once was, but I’m either too stubborn or too stupid for surrender to ever be an option, so it looks like you guys are stuck with me for the duration. Sorry about your damn luck.

Anyway, I’ve got some goals I wanna work on this year. First I want to post more regularly, I’m thinking I’ll start with at least two posts a month and increase from there. Secondly, I need to finish THKD’s Top 100 Metal Albums before I’m too old and decrepit to type, so I wanna focus on getting more entries under my belt; I’ve already got a few in mind that I think folks will dig. I also wanna bring back some of the old semi-regular features, such as the Blitzkrieg, Bandcamp Band Crap and of course Oodles of Brutals.

One thing I don’t intend to focus on is interviews; the last four or five interviews I sent out to bands got totally flaked on, which sure as shit didn’t help with my lack of desire to do much with THKD last year. It’s a pretty crummy feeling to work hard on coming up with good questions, only for the band to not have the respect or common courtesy to hold up their end of the bargain. Honestly, they could just tell me from the get-go to “fuck off” and I’d respect that way more than agreeing to do an interview and then flaking, because at least I’d know where I stood and wouldn’t have wasted my time writing a bunch of questions.

But enough complaining about flaky metal musicians. Now that I’m back, I’d much rather focus on the positives and make up for lost time. A big thanks to everyone that continues to stick with me on this wild ride throughout all the hiatuses, identity crises and assorted other nonsense I’ve put this blog through over the last dozen or so years. I ain’t done yet, so whether ya like it or not, learn to love it, because it’s the best thing goin’ today! WOOO!

Zao – The Crimson Corridor (Observed/Observer Recordings, 2021)

Zao reviews typically start with a recap of the band’s ultra-convoluted history. I’m not gonna go into all that; chances are if you’re reading this blog you probably know at least a little something about the Pennsylvania-based quintet. I’d much rather open by stating that The Crimson Corridor is one of Zao’s best albums, and that’s saying something for a band that’s nearly three decades and twelve albums deep into their career.

Musically speaking, Zao has always been a constantly evolving entity. From the more hardcore oriented early releases, to the chaotic metalcore of classics such as Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest and Liberate Te Ex Inferis, to the more melodic approach of the underrated The Funeral of God, they’ve never made the same record twice. That evolution continues with The Crimson Corridor, which finds the band leaning heavily into post metal territory, making for an album that’s among the most poignant and atmospheric of Zao’s works without sacrificing the band’s signature heaviness.

One can hear echoes of Isis and Cult of Luna throughout The Crimson Corridor, but Zao filter the post metal sound through their twenty-eight years of stylistic twists and turns, bending it to their will and making it wholly their own. Tracks such as “Ship of Theseus” and “Transitions” are a morass of sludgy tempos and down-tuned guitars, whereas others like “Croatoan” “R.I.P.W.” and “Creator/Destroyer” find the band mixing bone-breaking rhythms with delicate moments that at times border on full-on post rock. The biggest surprise here though is the ten minute long album-closing epic “The Web,” which moves effortlessly through a variety of sounds and moods throughout it’s run-time and sees Zao spreading their creative wings even further to produce what might be one of their all-time finest musical moments.

Produced and mixed by Dave Hidek, the album is incredibly dense; the heavy parts, which are plentiful, feel downright oppressive at times, as if Zao are piling musical cinderblocks on your chest, whereas the the more delicate sections have an airy, hazy quality about them, allowing the listener a chance to catch their breath before being dragged back down into the abyss. Hidek’s production serves to highlight the shifting dynamics of the songs, allowing one to fully absorb the sonic architecture of Zao’s pummeling fury, as well as their crippling melancholy.

With The Crimson Corridor, Zao have crafted yet another impressive release that serves to remind us why they still sit amongst the top tier of OG metalcore groups. Rather than play it safe, the band works hard to expand their sound in surprising ways, and this drive to progress beyond the confines of their musical roots continues to pay dividends. Emotionally draining, debilitatingly heavy and beautifully sad, The Crimson Corridor is a mesmerizing album that will stick with you long after it’s over.

https://officialzao.bandcamp.com/music

THKD’S TOP 5 METAL ALBUMS OF 2021: BEST OF THE REST EDITION

Calling this list “best of the rest” isn’t intended to indicate that these albums are somehow of a lesser quality than what came before. Rather, it is simply meant as sort of a catchall, since these albums didn’t quite fit into any of the other categories. So, without further ado and in alphabetical order, here’s the final round of albums that grabbed a hold of my crank and kept on yankin’ in 2021…

Amenra – De Doorn (Relapse Records) I have to admit, I never bothered to check out Amenra until I witnessed one of my favorite professional wrestlers, AEW’s Malakai Black, walk out to “Ogentroost” off of their latest album, De Doorn. The ominous, agonizing, ridiculously heavy track made for one hell of an entrance and upon listening to the rest of the album, I found myself utterly mesmerized by the Belgian quintet’s heady brew of doom, sludge and post metal. Sure, the band probably owes some of its inspiration to the likes of Neurosis and Cult of Luna, but one can also hear elements of heavy post-hardcore bands such a Breach and Minus, making for a unique take on the genre that alternates between unsettling and utterly terrifying. While I’m looking forward to exploring Amenra’s back catalog, I find myself still so stuck on De Doorn that I haven’t yet had a chance to venture further.

Cathexis – Untethered Abyss (Willowtip Records) Austin, TX quintet Cathexis creates just the kind of technical death metal that I absolutely love; dexterous and dissonant, but also memorable and organic-sounding. Indeed, Untethered Abyss isn’t your typical million-mile-an-hour, “Hey! Look what we can do!” style of tech death that’s become all too common; Cathexis know when to slow things down and they know how to play with feeling, as opposed to mindlessly shredding for six minutes at a time. The band also understands the value of knowing when to self-edit; the majority of the tracks on the album are under four minutes in length, making for an album that’s both compact and compelling. All in all, Untethered Abyss might be my favorite death metal album of 2021; a mesmerizing example of what technical death metal can be when it isn’t woefully overplayed and overproduced.

The Crown – Royal Destroyer (Metal Blade Records) Goddamn, I love The Crown! It’s been a bit of a rocky road for the Swedish quintet ever since 2003’s fun but uneven Possessed 13; the band reunited with OG vocalist Johan Lindstand, then he left again, then he came back again and they released a couple duds along the way (Doomsday King and Death is Not Dead). But the band regained their footing on 2018’s Cobra Speed Venom and with Royal Destroyer they’ve somehow upped the ante with an album that’s fast, violent, mean and hungry-sounding; it’s great to hear a thirty year old band still sounding like they have something to prove and putting the rest of the scene on notice with absolute bulldozers such as “Motordeath” “Scandinavian Satan” and “Beyond the Frail.” Indeed, after all these years The Crown remain the the kings of death thrash ultraviolence; long may they reign.

Crypta – Echoes of the Soul (Napalm Records) It’s always a bummer when longtime members leave a beloved band, but sometimes you end up getting two killer bands out of such a split, and that’s exactly what happened when former Nervosa members Fernanda Lira (bass, vocals) and Luana Dametto (drums) left to form international death metal powerhouse Crypta. Folks will of course be tempted to compare Crypta to Nervosa, but the two couldn’t be more different; whereas Nervosa play thrash with some death metal tendencies, Crypta’s debut is a pure death metal album and a ferocious one at that. Guitarists Sonia Anubis and Taina Bergamaschi peel off riff after scathing riff on tracks such as “Possessed” “Death Arcana” and “Under the Black Wings,” while Lira howls like she’s possessed by multiple demons and Dametto pulverizes her drums with both power and precision. Echoes of the Soul is one of the best death metal debuts not just of 2021 but of at least the last five years.

Horndal – Lake Drinker (Prosthetic Records) My hometown has never meant much to me, but the same can’t be said for Sweden’s Horndal. The band’s hometown holds such importance to its members that they named said band after it, and over the course of two albums they’ve crafted a soundtrack to the small Swedish village’s tragic history. Although they’ve only been playing together since 2016, the quartet attack songs such as “The Uprising” and “Growing Graves” with such precision and ferocity it’s as if they’ve been honing their craft for much longer; perhaps the shared experience of growing up together in a near-ghost town has put them on the same wavelength. Whatever the case, Horndal are the very definition of a well-oiled machine on Lake Drinker; that may sound like a total cliche, but this is one of the rare cases where the cliche actually holds true.

Honorable Mentions:

• Aborted – Mania Cult (Century Media)
• Blood Red Throne – Imperial Congregation (Nuclear Blast)
• Carnal Savagery – Fiendish (Moribund Cult)
• Desaster – Churches Without Saints (Metal Blade Records)
• Frozen Soul – Crypt of Ice (Century Media)
• Go Ahead and Die – s/t (Nuclear Blast)
• Ingested – The Surreption II (Unique Leader Records)
• Monster Magnet – A Better Dystopia (Napalm Records)
• Nervosa – Perpetual Chaos (Napalm Records)
• Pestilence – Exitivm (Agonia Records)
• Traumatomy – Extirpation Paradigms (Gore House Productions)
• Yautja – The Lurch (Relapse Records)

THKD’S TOP 5 METAL ALBUMS OF 2021: NUCLEAR BLAST EDITION

Nuclear Blast has released a ridiculous number of rad albums this year; I guess that’s pretty easy to do when practically every big name metal band on the planet is signed to your label. Even though Nuclear Blast has never sent me a single promo or let me interview any of their artists, I gotta give the goddamn devil his due and highlight some of the amazing releases they put out in 2021.

Carcass – Torn Arteries Carcass; the masters, the kings, the gods of this shit. Carcass can do wrong and Torn Arteries is nothing short of another excellent addition to their discography. Does it bring anything new to the table? Absolutely not, but here’s the thing; Carcass just being Carcass and nothing more is automatically better than roughly 99.9% of all metal bands in the known universe. ‘Nuff said, true believer!

Cradle of Filth – Existence is Futile Cradle of Filth’s late career resurgence beginning with 2015’s Hammer of the Witches has been nothing short of awesome to behold and I’m happy to report that Existence is Futile continues their run of excellent albums. It isn’t that they’re doing anything different than what they’ve always done, it’s just that they’re doing it better; the riffage is more righteous, the songwriting has improved tenfold and ringleader Dani Filth’s vocals sound positively reinvigorated. Filth’s decision to almost completely retool CoF’s lineup back in 2014 continues to pay dividends, as guitarists Ashok and Rich Shaw bring a welcome mix of blackened melodies and old school heavy metal thunder that damn near rivals anything to be found on the band’s ’90s classics.

Exodus – Persona Non Grata While their old school thrash metal peers wimp out, call it quits, or otherwise screw the pooch, Exodus just continue to get gnarlier, meaner, uglier and heavier with age. Sure, they’ve stumbled a few times along the way, but with Persona Non Grata they’ve unleashed a brutal, burly-ass thrash metal album that improves upon the lessons in violence laid down on Blood In, Blood Out and might even surpass the viciousness of their classic 2004 comeback Tempo of the Damned. On tracks such as “Persona Non Grata” “Slipping into Madness” and “Prescribing Horror,” Gary Holt proves himself once again to be the riffmaster general of Bay Area thrash while vocalist Steve Souza still sounds like he eats bowls full of nails for breakfast and flosses with barbwire.

Massacre – Resurgence Back in 2014 when a version of Massacre announced the release of a new album called Back from Beyond, I said “No Kam Lee, no dice.” Turns out I was right, ‘cuz that album sucked. Fast-forward to 2021 and a new Kam Lee-fronted version of Massacre is back from beyond for real with Resurgence and this beast more than makes up for that dud album from a few years ago. Boasting an army of three guitarists that includes death metal juggernaut Rogga Johansson (pretty much every death metal band ever), this new iteration of Massacre brings back the pummeling heaviness of the 1991 classic From Beyond and infuses it with a creepy, Lovecraftian atmosphere to complement the subject matter. And if there was ever any question, yes, Kam Lee is the voice of Massacre; accept no substitutes.

Rob Zombie – The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy At the THKD bunker we like to have fun and having fun means that every so often we get the sinister urge to listen to some goddamn muthafuckin’ Rob Zombie. Listen y’all, I’ve been following Zombie since I was in junior high and to this day I still like his stuff about a gazillion times more than whatever blackened-brolic-technical-post-screamo-polished-turd metal all the cool kids are jocking this week. I will admit that the last couple Zombie albums felt like ol’ uncle Rob was going through the motions, but on The Lunar Injection... he and the band sound reinvigorated, as evidenced by instant classics such as “The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)” and “Crow Killer Blues,” not to mention the redneck country meets industrial metal whatthefuckery of “18th-Century Cannibals, Excitable Morlocks and a One-Way Ticket on Ghost Train.”

THKD’S TOP 5 METAL ALBUMS OF 2021: OODLES OF BRUTALS EDITION

Crazy to think I’ve been doing Oodles of Brutals columns for about eight years now. Although they’re few and far between, I have to say that brutal death metal, slam and goregrind are among my favorite genres to write about; they’re just so damn much fun to listen to that the reviews practically write themselves sometimes. Even though I didn’t do an OOB column in 2021 prior to now, there was a ton of good stuff that came out this year and I thought it’d be good to highlight a few of the outstanding releases. So without further ado and in alphabetical order…

Abominable Putridity – Parasitic Metamorphosis Manifestation (Inherited Suffering Records) To be completely honest, Abominable Putridity’s pummeling comeback is one of my albums of the year across all genres, not just the brutal shit. Sure, part of it is because I’m just so damn happy to have them back, but it’s mostly because this album is a slamming death metal ass-beating par excellence. Drummer turned multi-instrumentalist Alexander Kubiashvili absolutely fucking kills it here on all fronts and the addition of Cephalotripsy/Disgorge vocalist Angel Ochoa is just vomitous icing on the corpse-strewn cake. Indeed, Parasitic Metamorphosis Manifestation is one of the heaviest, meanest goddamn albums of 2021 and if you haven’t heard it yet, now’s as good a time as any to get your skull smashed.

Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined (Metal Blade Records) Cannibal Corpse have never put out a dud, but for whatever reason 2017’s Red Before Black didn’t really stick with me the way previous albums had. I’m happy to report that is not the case with Violence Unimagined; this absolute banger has stayed in my rotation since April and I don’t see it going away anytime soon. The secret to Cannibal’s success here isn’t much of a secret at all; longtime producer/death metal god Erik Rutan was made a full-time member of CC back in 2020 and his blistering, bludgeoning guitarwork gives them a much-needed injection of fresh blood. Rutan contributed three tracks to Violence Unimagined, but his overall presence infuses every nook and cranny of the album with a new energy that’s absolutely glorious to behold.

Carnifex – Graveside Confessions (Nuclear Blast) Fuuuuuuuuck, I guess I like deathcore now?!?! I had previously sampled San Diego’s Carnifex on a few occasions, but they never did much for me until I listened to the advance tracks for Graveside Confessions. By toning down the deathcore and turning up the Dimmu Borgir influence, these guys have made a really fun, catchy album that absolutely surprised the hell out of me. It turns out that black metal and breakdowns are two great tastes that taste great together; the songwriting here is topnotch throughout and the whole thing sounds like a million bucks thanks to a sick production job from none other than Anaal Nathrakh’s Mick Kenney. I can’t say for sure how far down the deathcore rabbit hole I’ll go from here, but I can say that Carnifex have really won me over with this blackened ‘n’ bludgeoning album.

Insect Inside – The First Shining of New Genus (Gore House Productions) Gore House Productions have long been a bastion of slam and brutal death metal excellence, but Insect Inside’s debut just might be the label’s crown jewel. The First Shining of New Genus brings the heavy in a way that few bands in the scene can muster, sporting creative, groovy slams and a penchant for being both technical and troglodytic in equal measure; I found myself listening to this shizz constantly after getting my hot little hands on a copy. Insect Inside are crushingly heavy, but what really makes this album stand out is the attention to songwriting; it’s evident that the band took their time honing their craft, distilling The First Shining of New Genus down to thirty-three minutes of pure, precise brutality. These guys are onto something special and I’m excited to see where they take their unique twist on slamming death metal in the future.

Last Days of Humanity – Horrific Compositions of Decomposition (Rotten Roll Rex) I didn’t listen to much goregrind this year, and what I did listen to was mainly catching up on 2020 releases that I had missed. But when the goregrind OGs Last Days of Humanity put out a new full length, which doesn’t happen very often, you damn well drop whatever the fuck you’re doing and listen. In spite of the weird haunted house album cover, LDOH are still kicking out some of the gnarliest, noisiest, ugliest pathological goregrind you’re ever going to hear, cramming thirty-three tracks of total filth into just twenty-two minutes; just enough time to make your goddamn brain melt and come oozing out of all your various holes. Carcass might have invented this shit but LDOH perfected it and they continue to set the blood-soaked bar for goregrind every time out.

THKD’s TOP 5 METAL ALBUMS OF 2021: LIVE ALBUM EDITION

I haven’t been to a live show since November of 2020 and to be honest, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.  Call me paranoid, call me a wimp, call me whatever you want, but every time I see photos from a recent live show, it’s always a shitload of people clumped together with no masks on, packed into whatever venue like sardines, and in the midst of the pandemic we’re still in, that freaks me out more than a little.

But the lack of shows over the past year, followed by extreme hesitance toward going to shows now that they’ve returned, has given me a newfound appreciation for live albums.  I mean, if I can’t/won’t see bands live for the time being, surely a good live album is the next best thing.  Fortunately, there was no shortage of quality live material released in 2021, but I’ve managed to narrow it down to five live albums that really stood out in a time where I’m still not comfortable being crammed into a venue with a bunch of other people in spite of being masked and triple-vaxed.

Ghoul – Live in the Flesh (Tankcrimes) Given that Ghoul’s stage show involves blood, gore, monsters and killer robots, they’re a band that’s best seen as well as heard. But since that’s not an option for the me at the moment, I’m more than happy to blast this hour long set taken from a 2018 show at Oakland’s Metro Operahouse. The sound quality is appropriately filthy, but you can still hear everything that’s happening musically, and songs such as “Ghoulunatics” “Metallicus Ex Mortis” and “As Your Casket Closes” are that much gnarlier in the live setting, which in turn makes them that much more fun to listen to. Indeed, Live in the Flesh is a total blood orgy of chainsaw guitars, gut pummeling drums and torturous toilet vocals, made all the more entertaining by the band’s hilarious between-song banter.

Mr. Bungle – The Night They Came Home (Ipecac)  After twenty-one years of silence, avant-garde metal oddballs Mr. Bungle came roaring back with The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo, a vicious re-recording of their original 1986 demo tape with a few new tracks and some covers thrown in for good measure.  It was one of the year’s best thrash albums, but Mike Patton, Trey Spruance and the rest of the Bunglers weren’t allowed much opportunity to capitalize on their successful comeback due to the pandemic.  Like many bands, they chose to perform a livestream show, which was recorded for posterity and released on CD/blu-ray as The Night They Came Home. Wild, weird and heavy AF, this blistering set recorded live at a library in Eureka, CA on Halloween is everything you’ve come to expect from Mr. Bungle, even if the music isn’t as out there as Disco Volante or California.

Suffocation – Live in North America (Nuclear Blast) Recorded during founding vocalist Frank Mullen’s final tour with the band, Live in North America marks the end of an era for long-running brutal death metallers Suffocation. Fortunately, the band chose to end Mullen’s tenure with a bang if this set recorded in front of a horde of rabid fans in Cambridge, MA is anything to go by. The setlist is comprised mostly of material from the band’s classic ’90s output and they tear into it with a ferocity that bands half the age of Mullen and guitarist Terrence Hobbs wish they could muster. This is probably going to sound like blasphemy to some, but the sound here might actually be better here than on the band’s early studio recordings and it is a pleasure to hear the songs such as “Liege of Inveracity” “Jesus Wept” and “Thrones of Blood” with such punch and clarity.

Sunn O))) – Metta, Benevolence BBC6 Music: Live on the invitation of Mary Anne Hobbs (Southern Lord)  Goddamn, that album title is a mouthful, isn’t it?  Thanks to pioneers like John Peel, the BBC has a long tradition of bringing extreme music to the masses.  It should come as no surprise then that drone/doom metal masters Sunn O))) were invited to perform a session following their 2019 UK tour; here the band play two selections from Pyroclasts and one from Life Metal accompanied by vocalist Anna Von Hausswolf and trombonist Stephen Moore.  I’ve seen Sunn O))) live on several occasions, so it’s more than a little odd to listen to them in that setting without feeling the music with your entire body, but it’s still a very pleasant experience to get utterly lost in the singularly rumbling, crumbling, crushing drone/doom the band has perfected over the past twenty-plus years.  So find a comfy chair, some good speakers and your mind-altering substance of choice and prepare to take a trip across the multiverse.

Ufomammut – Live at Roadburn Festival 2011 (Roadburn)  Speaking of trips, few shows I’ve attended have been as trippy as Ufomammut.  The Italian trio’s music is so gloriously, hypnotically psychedelic on its own that one doesn’t even need drugs to be transported to an alternate dimension while witnessing them live.  Ever since seeing the band back in 2015, I’ve longed to recapture even the tiniest morsel of that mind-blowing musical experience, so running across this album by surprise at my local record store was truly a case of psychotropic serendipity.  Here, the band plays the Eve album in its entirety along with a few cuts from classics such as Snailking and Godlike Snake, making for about an hour and fifteen minutes of totally smoked out/spaced out doom and sludge.  This is some seriously brain-melting stuff and easily one of the most far-out live releases of 2021.

Abominable Putridity – Parasitic Metamorphosis Manifestation (Inherited Suffering Records, 2021)

Goddamn, has it really been almost a decade since Abominable Putridity put out The Anomalies of Artificial Origin?  It seems like only yesterday that album was caving fuckin’ my skull in, probably because it’s been in my regular slam rotation for all these years.  After all, it is a masterpiece of sheer pummeling brutality that few if any bands have been able to match in the intervening years.

But how does a band follow up a masterpiece?  Or in Abominable Putridity’s case, how does one follow up a masterpiece after pretty much the entire band, including ace vocalist Matti Way, decides to take a hike?  If you’re drummer Alexander Kubiashvili, you play every damn instrument, hire a new vocalist and put out another masterpiece in the form of Parasitic Metamorphosis Manifestation.

Yes friends, Abominable Putridity’s first album in nine long years more than lives up to the slamming might of The Anomalies of Artificial Origin and might even surpass it in terms of heaviness and brutality.  Just listen to tracks such as “Supreme Void” “Superior Extradimensional Decimation” and title track; they’re the musical equivalent of having cinderblocks repeatedly smashed over your head, and I mean that in the best way possible.  Kubiashvili’s decision to handle all instruments more than pays off here; the dude proves himself to be a one-man slamming machine, whether it be whipping out the diggity-dankest of slamming riffs or pummeling the shit out of the kit.

Indeed, Parasitic Metamorphosis Manifestation is absolutely, positively, ridiculously devastating on the instrumental front, but make no mistake, the vocals are also fully equipped to violently fuck your face right off.  You see, Kubiashvili wisely recruited one of the few growlers that could fill Matti Way’s shoes; enter Angel Ochoa, current vocalist for the legendary Disgorge and the man famous for puking all over Cephalotripsy’s slam classic Uterovaginal Insertion of Extirpated Anomalies.  Ochoa’s vox fit Kubiashvili’s compositions like a glove, adding yet another layer of heavy to album that already hits you with roughly one billion tons of heaviness.

To say that this is one hell of a comeback album would be the understatement of the year; Parasitic Metamorphosis Manifestation might be the best of Abominable Putridity’s three full lengths, not to mention one of the best slam albums of 2021.  Kubiashvili and Ochoa have made brutal slamming death metal magic here, and one can only hope that this this is just the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership between two titans of the genre.

Defecrator – Unholy Hymns of Bestial Warfare (Goat Throne Records, 2021)

The career of Sacramento CA’s Defecrator was the very definition of short but sweet. In just six years, the band released a demo, an EP and two splits, not to mention the ferocious black/death metal masterpiece that is their devastating 2019 debut full length, Abortion of Humanity. But just when they were at the height of their unholy powers, guitarist/vocalist Angel Raping Invoker of Bestial Chaos relocated to Europe, which in turn lead to Defecrator going on indefinite hiatus following an incredible farewell show at the Cafe Colonial, a confluence of Satanic energies that nearly leveled the entire city with sheer heaviness.

Interview: UNMERCIFUL

Topeka, KS brutal death metal masters Unmerciful recently released their third album Wrath Encompassed on the venerable Willowtip Records.  The album is easily their most punishing album to date and is already poised to go down as one of the most devastating metal releases of the year.  I got in contact with longtime bassist Jeremy Turner to discuss the new album and the band’s efforts to create the most punishing music possible.