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.
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.
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 SummaryExecution, 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.
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.
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.
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.
It’s been just a little over a month since the last Oddles of Brutals; that has to be some sort of record. 2020 continues to be a banner year for all sorts of sonic brutality, so without further ado, let’s take a look at another batch of brutal, slamming and technical death metal marvels.
We’re just a little past the first quarter mark for 2020, but metal fans have already been treated to a deluge of quality brutal death metal; from the mind-bending technicality of Odious Mortem, to the crushing slams of Engutturalment Cephaloslamectomy, to the unmitigated violence of Unmerciful, it’s shaping up to be a hell of a year. But sitting at the top of this monolithic BDM heap is Spawn of Almighty Essence, the sophomore album from Ukrainian skull-smashers Schizogen.
Hard to believe its been almost eight months since the last one of these roundups, but 2020 is finally starting to cough up some quality brutal death metal and slam, so you know what that means…
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.
Well friends, it’s been nearly eight months since the last Oodles of Brutals, which means we’re long overdue for another deep dive into the world of all things brutal and slamming. So without further ado…
Slam is one of the most over-the-top subgenres of metal and they don’t come any more absurdly OTT than Taipei City, Taiwan’s Gorepot. The brainchild of ubiquitous slam god Larry Wang (Facelift Deformation, Fatuous Rump, Guttural Corpora Cavernosa, Maggot Colony, Umbilical Asphyxia, Coprocephalic, Fat Tub of Lard Records), Asian Stoned Effect is the band’s seventh album and it’s also one of the most ri-goddamn-diculous slamming death metal albums you’re ever going to hear.
Split releases can be difficult to review due to the competitive vibe they give off. Although it’s likely not the intention, it always feels like a battle between the bands involved. Indeed, Onset of Horrendosity is a slamming brutal death metal death match between two up-and-coming acts, Fetor and Crepitation, and both are young, hungry contenders. Which band will put the slam smackdown on the other and come out on top?
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.
THKD’s year end extravaganza will be published on Monday, December 17th at midnight both here and over at the THKD YouTube channel. But as a prelude to the madness that’s about to be unleashed, I’ve decided to list out five noteworthy albums that were just a hair shy of making the cut. So without further ado and in no particular order…
Has it really only been a month and a half since I last posted one of these? That’s got to be a new record. Whatever the case, we’ve got a lot of crucial slamz and mandatory brutality to cover this time around, from the nearby Bay Area all the way to the Land Down Under, so without further ado, let’s dig in…
After another lengthy hiatus, Oodles of Brutals returns! To these ears, there hasn’t been a ton of noteworthy brutal death metal and slam released this year, but I’ve managed to dig up a few new releases and crucial reissues that I think you’ll enjoy. So without further ado, let’s dive headfirst into the gore.
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…
Those of you that follow the brutal/slam death metal scene are likely well aware of the fact that Asia has been positively killing it for the last few years. While many of the continent’s most celebrated acts hail from Japan (Vomit Remnants, Gorevent, Infernal Revulsion, Medic Vomiting Pus, etc), neighboring China is no slouch either, as evidenced by Deformity of Human Consciousness, the second album from Tianjin’s The Dark Prison Massacre.
I had been looking forward to writing about Internal Bleeding’s new single “Final Justice,” but given recent events, I now find myself doing so with a heavy heart. On April 20, 2017, IB’s drummer and founding member William Tolley died while serving his community, battling a two alarm blaze as a fourteen year veteran of the Fire Department of New York, who had previously assisted with the September 11, 2001 rescue efforts as a volunteer fire fighter. “Final Justice” is to my knowledge his last recorded work with the band.
THKD’s year end extravaganza will be published on Monday, December 17th at midnight both here and over at the 
THKD 