DECEASED – Children Of The Morgue
https://eternal-terror.com/?p=72095

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://the-true-deceased.bandcamp.com/

Let me paint you a picture of a bright unscathed new world where mankind would live in joyous peace and cherish his life on Earth, our children would play in safety and real love would own our hearts, true sincerity lives away from greed…Now let me paint you reality’s picture, it’s a dark unbending world where this […]

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Deceased – Children of the Morgue Review

By Steel Druhm

Virginia’s Deceased are about as cult as a metal band gets and over their 37 year career of evil they’ve harvested the best bits of traditional, thrash and death metal and stitched them together into shambling monstrosities. Evolving from death into grind and then death-thrash with ever-increasing melodic sensibilities, Deceased have always been a feral, shaggy beast unfit for polite company. Albums like Fearless Undead Machines and Surreal Overdose are stone-cold classics overlooked by far too many, and any Deceased album is guaranteed to be a mangy ball of undisciplined hyperactivity thanks to founder and brain trust King Fowley. This man lives, breathes and bleeds metal and he’s the reason Deceased are such an enduring and charming freakshow. With no new material since 2018s Ghostly White, King made fans wait patiently for new product, and 2024 finally sees eighth album Children of the Mogue splattered on the wall like a shit-guts souffle. Are you ready to savor the flavor?

I’m happy to report that the unhinged, foaming-at-the-mouth sound of classic Deceased is still present. The title track proves it as their classic blend of OSDM, thrash and classic metal runs apeshit amok over your face and chesticles before leaving you in a greasy dumpster behind an organ donation clinic. It’s exactly what you want from Deceased with King Fowley’s over-the-top death roars as good as ever, accented by riffs that leap from 80s thrash, to 90s caveman death and NWoBHM without warning. At various points you’ll hear bits of Slayer, Rigor Mortis, Autopsy and even Voivod, and with nearly 8 minutes to work with, the band has plenty of time to saw your ears off. Is it massively bloated? Fuck yes it is, but it’s a wild ride full of hobo wine and lead pipe beatings and it’s crazy entertaining. After a short doomy interlude, the band jumps over to an upbeat, punky style not far from Unto Others (Untoothers) on “Terronaut,” but this quickly gives way to spoken word terror tales and death-thrash hooliganism with catchy guitar bits. The 8-plus minutes of “The Gravedigger” are a bloody sled ride through an active abattoir and you’ll get kill-bolted in the cranium multiple times along the way as the band chugs, grooves, dooms, and deaths every which way they can. It’s a big ole can of corpse paste and alley cat piss, but you get accustomed to the lumpy consistency.

The urge to cram more and MOAR into nearly every track has long been a Deceased handicap and it is here too. “The Gravedigger” is way long, as is “Fed to Mother Earth,” and restraint goes right out the fucking window on 8-plus minute closer “Farewell (Taken to Forever)”. But where Metallica bugs the shit out of me when they elongate songs 3-5 minutes past the logical stopping point, it’s way more tolerable when these guys do it because they stuff so much berserk filling in the coffin crust. The madcap commitment to excess is endearing, but the album plays out like a hot oil wrestling match against a bunch of zaftig competitors — it’s slippery fun but they wear you down before the end. That said, cuts like “Eerie Wavelengths” and “Brooding Lament” hit hard because they’re shorter and laser-focused on curb-stomping your poser ass. At 55 minutes, Children of the Morgue requires effort to absorb in one sitting, and slicing off the FOUR interludes might have helped lessen the cadaver load. Still, there’s a cosmic ass-ton of fun to be had along the way.

King Fowley is a metal legend and should be given a lifetime achievement award. He handles drums, bass and vocals here and though he’s a multi-talented chap, it’s his insane blathering that keeps the lights on at Deceased Manor. He’s one of the most over-the-top frontmen in metal, genuinely going all in all the time with shouts, death roars, blackened cackles and everything else he can think of. He’s a big reason the band’s chaos soup style works and he’s nothing if not charismatic. Guitarist Mike Smith has been integral to their sound since 1995, throwing off vibrant trad, thrash, and death riffs in rapid succession while also venturing into Goth rock and punk. With long-time murder accomplice Shane Fuegal along for the ride, the guitar work is deranged, unpredictable and spicy, borrowing from everyone from Iron Maiden to Autopsy to Tribulation.

As with nearly every Deceased album, there are hits and some lesser moments, but nothing here is bad. The bloat is the main obstacle, but even on the longest cuts, the band delivers so much belligerent energy, that you may not care about the added baggage. Children of the Morgue is a fun, frantic outing with the classic Deceased sound and that’s all that matters. Pad the walls and strap yourself in, because this shit has big nuts in it.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hells Headbangers
Websites: facebook.com/deceasedofficial | instagram.com/deceasedupthetombstones
Releases Worldwide: August 30th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AmericanMetal #Aug24 #ChildrenOfTheMorgue #DeathMetal #Deceased #FearlessUndeadMachines #GhostlyWhite #HeavyMetal #HellsHeadbangersRecords #Review #Reviews #ThrashMetal

Skelethal – Within Corrosive Continuums Review

By Mark Z.

Smelly cheese, extreme horror films, and Skelethal. All things France has given us, two of which I actually care about. Today’s topic is the last of those three. Formed in 2012, this group play a belligerent and unpolished form of Swedish-style death metal, complete with a musty vibe that seems to always come along with being signed to Hells Headbangers Records. One of their early EPs impressed former staffer Al Kikuras; their 2017 debut did not. However, with 2020’s Unveiling the Threshold, vocalist and guitarist Gui Haunting returned with a revamped lineup, an improved production job, and better songs. The result was a wholly enjoyable record that earned a positive endorsement from the almighty Kronos. Now joined by session drummer Ilmar Marti Uibo (ex-Necrowretch), the band are back from the depths with their third album, Within Corrosive Continuums.

Though it’s been four years since their last record, the core of Skelethal’s sound hasn’t changed. Expect drums that almost constantly barrel forward, ragged chords that shuffle around the fretboard, and slobbering growls that spew forth lyrics about some sort of unearthly torment. As before, the most obvious influence is Swedish death metal, though the band’s preference for stomping grooves over melodic riffs makes them sound more like Carnage than Dismember. While the approach is nothing groundbreaking, I do enjoy the earnest execution. First proper track “Spectrum of Morbidity,” for instance, careens forward like a locomotive on fire before hitting the listener with some jabbing notes, while “Mesmerizing Flies at the Doors of Death” rides a quick squirming riff that sounds like a reinvention of the main guitar line from Carnage’s “Torn Apart.”

The biggest difference between this and Skelethal’s past work is what could loosely be called a “progressive death metal” influence. “Spectrum of Morbidity” displays this when a strange riff appears midway through, but the true showcase of this new sound comes with the mammoth title track that closes the album. Clocking in at just under thirteen minutes, this entirely instrumental song employs all sorts of warped riffing and cosmic solos, making it sound like the band were trying to write their own version of the closing track from the last Blood Incantation record. Furthering that comparison, the song even features an extended ambient interlude, presumably intended to give the listener one last chance to take a massive bong rip before some heavy and reverberating chords bring the album to a close.

The progressive influence is a cool new touch, but it doesn’t always work. Take the strange and somber interlude that crops up in “Upon the Immemorial Ziggurat.” While I like this segment, it doesn’t feel neatly integrated into the song. Yet the biggest issue with this record is the same one that, in varying degrees, has always plagued Skelethal. While the band’s scrappy delivery and whiff of Lovecraftian weirdness is endearing, the group simply lack the notable hooks and memorable riffs that would put them higher on the modern death metal pecking order. Simply put, this is a band that’s easy to like but hard to love.

Fortunately, the production works well, with a raw and unkempt sound that presents everything clearly enough without harming the otherworldly atmosphere. The guitars are powerful and dirty, keeping the riffing grounded while giving everything a sense of unrestrained drive. The leads, on the other hand, wail and squeal with a soaring tone that calls to mind later Death albums. I’d also be remiss not to mention how bold the band were in constructing this album. Along with the title track, the opening song “Creation” also has no vocals. This means that two of these seven tracks, that together comprise over a third of the album’s forty-minute runtime are entirely instrumental. It ultimately makes for a record that’s easy to escape into and leave your shitty life behind. Do I see myself adding this to my year-end list? Probably not. Do I see myself listening to this in my basement at 11 p.m. on a Saturday, three beers deep and naked below the waist, with the tip of my weiner peeking out from below my oversized T-shirt? Fuck yes. Take that for what it’s worth, I guess.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hells Headbangers Records
Websites: skelethal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/skelethal
Releases Worldwide: July 12th, 2024

#2024 #30 #BloodIncantation #Carnage #Death #DeathMetal #Dismember #FrenchMetal #HellsHeadbangersRecords #Jul24 #Necrowretch #Review #Reviews #Skelethal #WithinCorrosiveContinuums

Cardiac Arrest – The Stench of Eternity Review

By Steel Druhm

You can’t listen to everything out there and we all have gaps in our metal detection system through which plenty of quality product sluices out. Still, I’m left wondering why I never spent time with Chicago’s death metal maniacs Cardiac Arrest until last week. Active since 2004 and with 7 full-lengths under their belt, this is a Windy City death institution that I completely slept on despite AMG having reviewed their 2018 opus A Parallel Dimension of Despair. On eighth album The Stench of Eternity, these scuzzmongers deliver a nasty sound mixing classic Floridian death with the uglier side of grind and crust and occasional flirtations with meatheaded slam. This brutal brew means you’ll be in for one helluva sick beatdown. That’s a good thing, and maybe a very good thing depending on your bodily durability and appetite for ear destruction. You may want to hold onto something sturdy for emotional support, like a bunker-buster bomb.

After a dramatic intro soundbite about maggots, “Maggot This One” removes your face using rudimentary caveman tools that sound like a hellish blend of Impetigo and early Carcass. Before you can get yourself re-faced, “Victims of the Blasphemy” brings the OSDM cudgel down and mercilessly hammers you with something like Deicide meets Jungle Rot meets Malevolent Creation. You don’t know it yet, but you need this filth pumping through your soon-to-be hardened arteries. The unintentional or suspiciously intentional nod to Slayer’s “Hell Awaits“ at the midpoint is satisfying and gives you a chance to regain some bodily fluids (milk would be a bad choice). This tune is exactly what Steel wants from his OSDM and the ass whippings are just getting started.

There’s a 5-song run here composed of the best death metal I’ve heard this year. Starting with “Bullets are the Only Cure,” Cardiac Arrest brings out the street cleaners with brushes set to “Scrub-a-Dub-Stumprub.” The mid-paced d-beaty chugs are heavy, thick, and as inevitable as Thanos and his fun mitten. Once you’re properly tenderized, the absolute brain fuck of “In the Name of Suffering” rolls over you like an 80-ton Zamboni. With massive chugs and grooves blasting lustily, there’s zero respite from this spectacular piece of leg-day-appropriate abuse. “Born to Be Buried” is like Cannibal Corpse if their collective IQ was reduced to 100, and the shambling death gallop descends into crushing chuggery and insane garbage disposal piggy noises that the whole family can enjoy. And wait til you hear the sick slow-motion mega-chugs that show up midway through “This is How You Die” to mulch your duodenum. With so much winning, how could Cardiac Arrest be stopped? Well, the answer is an on-and-off struggle with bloat. “Means to an End” is a rock-solid song that takes the best ingredients from Autopsy’s puke pâté and shoves them down your throat, but at 6-plus minutes it goes a bit too long. Worse is 11-plus minute closer “From Civilized to Sadistic.” It’s a dandy of a deather with tons of gripping moments, but by the 7-minute mark the bases are well covered and it just hangs around for another 4 minutes eating your lunch meat and rifling through your mail. Shorten these cuts and this clicks up to a GREAT death metal platter immediately. Despite the occasional bloatery, the 48-minute runtime doesn’t feel excessive as most cuts are nasty, brutish, and short. Also, kudos to the production which grants a gnarly tone to the guitars and a huge punch to the drums.

The riffs make the death metal, and Adam Scott and Tom Knizner bring the cargo bepantsed goods in large volumes. Whether they’re going for the throat with d-beaty thrash or pounding you into the Earth’s core with massive grooves, they know how to inflict caveman culture on the sophisticated. The 10-ton chugs that populate most songs feel as essential as oxygen and never get boring. These hellcats are masters at timing too, knowing exactly when to shift gears to keep things fresh and forward-moving. Three band members are credited with vocals and I have no clue who does what, but the combination of harsh styles reminds me of the Symphony of Sickness era of Carcass and everything sounds wonderfully diseased and incurable. The whole package is tight and the crew checks all the boxes while keeping a size 13 boot up your ass. That’s talent, folks.

The sheer intensity of the shellacking I received from this odious hunk of offal brings me back to wondering how I missed the Cardiac Arrest boat as long as I have. I feel great shame about it and I’m now digging through their back catalog with fiendish fervor. If you want a cracked brain and a bruised gallbladder, put your ears on The Stench of Eternity and turn it WAY UP. This is a special kind of ugly… like your Mom! Gottem.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hells Headbangers
Websites: cardiacarrestdeathmetal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/cardiacarrestdeathmetal
Releases Worldwide: May 17th, 2024

#2024 #35 #AmericanMetal #Autopsy #Carcass #CardiacArrest #DeathMetal #Deicide #Grindcore #HellsHeadbangersRecords #MalevolentCreation #May24 #Review #Reviews #TheStenchOfEternity