Gorevent – Fate (Comatose Music, 2020)

Japan’s Gorevent are the undisputed heavyweight champions of minimalist slam.  Over the course of a decade and a half, the band have successfully stripped the sub-subgenre of slamming brutal death metal down to its molten core; no technical flourishes, no guitar solos, no bullshit, just slam in its purest, grooviest form.  Fate is a testament to Gorevent’s continued dedication to keeping things as boneheaded as possible, and there ain’t a damn thing wrong with it.

Gorevent – In the Face of… (Abnormal Exaggeration Records, 2018)

In just under fifteen years, Niigata City, Japan’s Gorevent have become the country’s preeminent purveyors of slamming brutal death metal. Their mission to distill the subgenre down to its purest form continues on their fourth album, In the Face of… and the result is one of their finest releases to date.

Oodles of Brutals VII: Fear of a Slam Planet

Bloody hell, has it really been over a year since the last installment of OOB? Seems a little crazy since brutal death metal in all its wondrous guises has long been a major part of THKD’s bread and butter. But rather than lament the fact that these features are few and far between due to the laziness of yours truly over the past few years, let’s delve into what’s new and bludgeoning in the world of brutal death metal, slam, etc…

THKD’s Top 15 Albums of 2017

Ah, the intro.  This is the part where most writers attempt to regale you with an account of the myriad ups and downs they experienced throughout the year.  However, most writers fail to understand one very important fundamental truth: no one cares.  So without further ado and in no particular order, here’s a list of fifteen albums that grabbed a hold of my crank and kept on yankin’ in 2017…

Bandcamp Band Crap #2: Bandcamp Slamcamp

I have a growing obsession with slamming death metal.  Yes, I know its visual and lyrical imagery tends to be crude, tactless and in all-around poor taste.  Yes, I know much of the metal community considers it to be the lowest common denominator of death metal.  But there is good stuff here amongst the flying limbs and bodily fluids, and the good stuff is just so goddamn heavy.

Here’s the thing, slam appeals to me because it features two things I love: gore and groove.  I’ve always liked slow and heavy more than fast and heavy, and when these bands slow down to a dying man’s crawl and bring forth the slams for which their chosen genre gets its name, there’s absolutely nothing heavier.  As for the gore, like lots of metalheads I’m a horror film freak, and I have to admit to still getting a childish kick out of the ol’ blood ‘n’ guts as seen in the various slasher and zombie films that make up a good chunk of my DVD collection.  Slam is the best of both worlds; the heaviest parts of death metal and the gross-outs of a good splatter flick.

Compared to other subgenres, there isn’t a ton of slam on Bandcamp.  But there is some of that aforementioned “good stuff” floating around out there, and some of it is even free.  So let’s dive on into the gore, shall we?