Death

Rotted – Pestilent Tomb [US, Death] (2019)

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Maggot Stomp | 2-22-19

There is a joke among the ten people on the internet that listen to this music about caveman death and specifically heavy death metal with large riffs and a primal instinct and possibly a low reading level. The inspiration for these bands isn’t really clear though if you start at Rottrevore, Grave, and Obituary and make your way forward, you will have a good idea. This is not a genre nor even a style rather a direction some bands are flinging themselves into much like an oncoming bus. Maggot Stomp is a US label that seems to be the dealers in this killing floor style death metal with releases this year from Encoffinized and Frozen Soul. Whatever it is and if it differs from the other niche sounds of current death metal seems to be secondary to the monolithic riffs and and a drive for cosmic violence.

It is worth mentioning that this album was released in 2018 first on Headsplit Records and then in various states of pressing. I wont say that this Maggot Stomp Release is the most popular but it is the first time I have heard it so I am including this in the year 2019. If anyone has a problem with that they can find me by the greasy fire weilding a club.

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Astriferous – Raise High the Scepter of Indulgence [Costa Rica, Death] (2019)

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I make jokes about being married to a genre and upon seeing the cover for Raise High the Scepter of Indulgence and seeing the genre tags, I immediately sent it to 3 friends. I am fully aware that not all grimy death metal that emphasizes riffs and attitudes is going to be good rather grimy death metal that emphasizes riff and attitude even at its mediocrity is still enjoyable. Lucky for everyone involved Astriferous not only hits the topes of its genre and aesthetic but also makes for an enjoyable demo full of looming riffs and snarling attitude. I am not familiar with the current black and death metal scene in Costa Rica as compared to other places in South America but if anything else sounds like this and comes clad in leather jackets, then I am going to be marked down as incredibly interested.

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Thanamagus – Incorporeal Passage [US, Death] (2019)

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Self Released | 2-12-19

It is important to realize that demos were once demonstrations of talent that were circulated by record labels and eventually fans of unpolished heavy metal. the spectacle of talent despite production limitations and the promise of potential is what makes demos so exciting. Today, the idea of demo could just be a permanent state for people who never have any intention on making anything else. This is fine but initial demos from new bands still have excitement and zeal s they once did especially when the band plays colossal death metal.

Thanamagus still has yet to get a Metal Archives page and their Last.fm count is currently at 0. If one wanted a band cut from the side of a mountain before any refinery techniques, then this is the time to look. With looming riffs and a wild black and white cover this is the perfect place to start if you wanted raw and unfiltered death that may or maybe be greymarket and may or may not be anything beyond this demo. People who are into this type of stuff, however, are into these types of quirks and love the shit out of this type of stuff.

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CREMATORY STENCH – Grotesque Deformities [US, Death] (2019)

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Blood Harvest | 2-19-19

There will be a day when I am not immedtially drawn to a BW photocopied cover that is blown out with one color (most likely red). there will be a time when I am not ecstatic when a band embraces an aesthetic and goes for a name, album, and song titles that oscillates between Lovecraft, a cemetery, and the charnel house. There will be a day when I am more discerning about what death metal I enjoy as I cant keep making room for every band with a red and black cover and a gross name. Today is not that day.

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Vile Spirit – Promo 2019 [UK, Punk / Metal] (2019)

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Quality Control HQ | 1-21-19

I do not even know where to put this so Ill just throw it on the counter and let anyone pick it up if they want to. I have to say I love the color red as I feel it works really well for any album covers. The front of this promo is an example as it exemplifies the visceral qualities of music that is caught between hardcore punk and slow death. Perhaps one of the better examples is the longest track on this promo as “Bite Down” revels in the chaos of noise before lurching into a disjointed march across what I feel could be a wasteland strewn with corpses and nuclear waste. There are few genres this neatly fits into but it perfect music for the apocalypse.

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Defacement – Deviant [Netherlands, Death / Black] (2019)

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Self Released | 1-19-19

And so this break a nice running streak of black and white covers. It is okay. This is completely worth it. It is nice to get surprised and even knocked down by a sound. Defacement seems to be the new band created by members of a black metal outfit called Deathcrush. While I only listened to a few songs from Deathcrush, I feel the direction of this new outfit is much more appealing to a wider audience. Who is that audience? Well, people who like to hear nightmarish terror in musical form. From song titles, to the abstract cover, Defacement offers inexplicable unease which can not be described or discussed rather just embraced in swirling madness. This is a release which is both simple in its execution and cavernous in its success.

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Vomit Spell – Demo [Germany, Death / Grindcore] (2019)

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Self Released | 1-2-19

What a name. I love everything about it. I love the artwork and the fact it is a bandcamp demo that will later have a cassette release. I love the energy and the fact that I was clued into the release by the creator via email. Vomit Spell is a newish act from Germany that combines both the ferocity and irreverence of grindcore and the raw approach of death metal. The result is everything you have wanted combined with an aesthetic that is less innovative than it is tested and true. According to the Discogs page the demo was “recorded in the band’s rehearsal room between September and December of 2018.” We are just going back to all basics with this one. This is the staring point for all things festering. There are hazy boundaries when something is decomposing and giving off an awful stench. Come for death. Come for speed. Come for the decay of offal from an unidentified source.

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Męka – Ending My Life to Destroy Yours [US, Blackened Death] (2019)

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Redefining Darkness | 2-15-19

I actually am at a lose to what the genres are. I can usually either pick them out or go somewhere else to confirm. That is more difficult when the band has zero internet presence outside a few reviews and their music is a maelstrom of genres and chaos. Enter Męka whoese special character is going to push it into further obscurity. Perhaps this is where it belongs — in some basement corner of existence throwing up strange liquids. If that previous sentence sounded gross, you are halfway to the caustic tone of a band that sounds like it gives less of a shit what you did for half your life. This band is also going to push me to rethink blackened death as a sound as I never truly believed in it. I may still be confused about genres and Męka is at the root of this confusion. Eat glass. Smoke insects. Worship nothing.

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Grave Infestation – Infesticide [Canada, Death] (2018)

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Self Released | 12-31-18

In 2019, I want to amass a collection of gross sounding death metal. Thank you 2019 for giving me my first of this year’s collection. If you ever want to hear what blood stained concrete sounds and tastes like, allow Grave Infestation to overtake your beating heart. Wild guitar solos, ridiculous soundclips, and a band photo which looks like it has been run through a copier 100 times, this Canadian act is here to be antisocial and make jokes at funerals. I am just joking, they wouldn’t be invited anyway but are here to tip the casket. This is everything I love and am so glad I keep finding this stuff.

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Rotten Tomb – Live for the Death [Chile, Death] (2018)

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Self Released | 12-15-18

It is sort of late for a great 2018 death metal record and it is never really a good time for a live album but here we are. This sort of lackadaisical approach to actually releasing a record seems to be the marching orders for Rotten Tomb who has the look, sound, and feel of a hip grimy death metal band and has yet to release a studio effort in 2018. Both the Live for Death release and the 2018 Promo are live recordings which further casts grime on a band that lives in the sewers. Perhaps 2019 will see new material from this band but for 2018, it is live recordings and cold flesh for the rest of the year.

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