Memento mori

The highly anticipated 3rd full-length by this U.S. band. Since the dawn of the Paleolithic age, mankind has recorded spectacular scenes of death, whether in scenes of cannibal feasts crudely etched on cave walls, massacres immortalized in glyphs adorning monuments of the ancient kingdoms, or in chance recordings of grisly accidents, compiled and sold on home video to those with a thirst for that which is denied to them by our "civilized" society. Spawned in the contaminated sewers of Santa Cruz, California in 2013, Dipygus began as a four-piece mutation performing rudimentary styles of Death Metal, a sonic evolution of the tradition continued from the time of Cro-Magnons. A 2015 demo recording, the earliest surviving documentation of the band, reveled in unexplained and bizarre events, including peculiar methods of whale carcass disposal and otherworldly monsters from on and off the silver-screen. After a lineup change in 2016, Dipygus recorded the "Long Pig Feast" EP, which featured terrifying rites, ritual mutilations and ominous sightings of a Mesozoic relic in the heart of the Congo. Their debut album, "Deathooze", slowly de-composed in the murky shallows of powerplant runoff in the Monterey Bay, ultimately being recorded in 2018. Though quickly banned in over 16 countries, Dipygus´ debut album attracted immediate attention among slime fetishists and similarly deviant circles. Placed appropriately alongside the Fiji mermaids and other grotesque artefacts found in curio cabinets of modern-day antiquarians, "Deathooze" continued the band´s exploration of inexplicable incidents, mysterious beasts and shocking carnage, including genuine audio recovered from a fatal attack at the hands of an ape gone mad! Following their debut album, Dipygus was conjoined with an additional member, and began a new exploration in search of secrets hidden in the jungles of lost continents, where life is cheap. After successful initiation into the shadowy world of black-market cuisine, an agreement was reached with Memento Mori for the release of the band´s second full-length, "Bushmeat". Showcasing more exotic and repulsive themes of the supernatural and taboo, "Bushmeat" presented an uncensored and unrelenting spectacle, with each element of the previous work irresponsibly taken to a further extreme. A prime cut of raw and grueling terror, it was fit for consumption by headhunters, body-snatchers, toad-venom junkies, cargo cultists, aquatic ape theorists, disaster tourists, carriers of tropical disease, voodoo practitioners and orgone revivalists only. All others having since been warned, Dipygus return to time primordial with an elegantly self-titled third album. Suitably graced with evocative cover art courtesy of Hayden Hall, Dipygus thrusts the helpless listener into a psychedelic jungle of grisly delights. At 10 songs in 41 minutes, the quartet qualify their most lengthy recording yet with maximum delirium and characteristically crushing execution. Everything here feels massive -tone, feel, supernatural aura- yet somehow simultaneously exhibits a spacious quality that´s unsettling to the Nth degree. Perhaps that´s due to Dipygus´ increasingly twisted songwriting, neither "tech" nor improvisatory, but a certain "elevated caveman" aspect that pushes primitivism toward mind-bending ends. Fleeting-yet-haunting leads also play a part in Dipygus´ menagerie of malodorousness, exacerbating the psychotic reactions in their humid, hellish jungle, and even touches of way-back synths get mangled within, melting into the fuckton heaviness of Dipygus´ riffing. Ever wanna hear the most tripped-out moments of Autopsy, Impetigo and especially Nuclear Death taken to their ILLogicial conclusion? Then enter Dipygus´ self-titled album... if you dare!

The impressive debut full-length by this Filipino band. Formless Oedon came into being in late 2019 when founder/songwriter Rozel decided to re-ignite an old project that he had envisioned way back in 2014, which he later put on hiatus after facing difficulties in finding dedicated bandmates with the same passion for Death Metal. The band was originally started as a three-piece act comprised of fellow bandmates Jonathan and Andrei from local Thrash Metal group Desolator. The band owes much of their style and sound to old Finnish bands such as Demigod, Purtenance, Rippikoulu and Convulse, and other legendary bands including (but not limited to) Incantation, Dead Congregation and Immolation. In December 2019, Formless Oedon recorded an EP titled "Deathless Luminosity", which was then released in March 2020, during the peak of the pandemic in their country. The EP garnered the attention of the underground scene in their home country as well as overseas. With nationwide borders finally relaxing restrictions and live shows slowly returning to life, the band now aims to finally carve their piece of sonic history into the scene by releasing their debut album, actively playing live shows, and taking the underground by storm. Indeed, Formless Oedon should take the underground by storm with said debut album, appropriately titled "Streams of Rot". Form meeting content, "Streams of Rot" is a festering sore of old-school filth in the Finnish tradition: lumbering but volatile, dripping with slime yet exactingly executed, and utterly world-eating no matter the tempo. However, the quartet are total Death Metal maniacs above all, and authentically integrate myriad other twists into that noble paradigm, betraying a wealth of personality and charisma even while strictly coloring within the lines. Feel their "Streams of Rot" wash over you!

The highly anticipated 3rd album by this Polish/U.K. band. Eternal Rot crawled out of a musty dungeon in London in 2012, born out of a passion for Death Metal by Mayer and Grindak. Their 2013 Promo Tape demo (released as Grave Grooves on 7" EP through Fallen Temple Productions a year after), featured two swampy and deadly tracks that attracted vigilant zombies who began to spread the word about a new sonic disease. A few years of disgusting excavations later, they joined forces with Godz Ov War Productions and spewed out the debut album "Cadaverine", which was adorned with the artwork of Mark Riddick, who would ultimately become the band´s artist of choice from then on. Shortly after, the duo were joined by Radek Pierściński (Meat Spreader, Neuropathia, The Dead Goats) on drums, and the result was the band´s second album, "Putridarium", which featured an improved formula of their already trademark purulent and über-crushing Death Metal. The band´s latest chapter of filth up to date was the 2021 split with Death/Doom Metal powerhouse Coffins, on Behind the Mountain Records. Now, at long last, Eternal Rot will release their 3rd album, "Moribound". Aptly titled in a perverse way and again graced with another unforgettable Mark Riddick cover, "Moribound" proves that the power-trio´s Death Metal is as undead as ever - "rottenly fresh", as it were, or perhaps "freshly rotten"! No compromise made and no quarter given, Eternal Rot stick to their grimy guns and unleash another slab of organ-crushing, mind-blowing, and sickening Death Metal. That it´s stripped to the fucking bone is one thing (and indeed it is); that it´s insanely catchy is another! Someone once said that it takes a truly smart man to know when to be dumb, and Eternal Rot just might be the smartest men around with the ignorant, knuckle-dragging stomp of "Moribound". There´s just no resisting these anthems-in-the-making, especially as the gut-wrenching crunch devours you whole and then sucks the very marrow from both bone and soul. Of course, a horror-drenched atmosphere still pervades all that Eternal Rot do, but the modus operandi here is undeniably the absolute crush of the listener - in the catchiest way possible! Maniacs for Autopsy, Undergang, Hooded Menace, Rippikoulu, Anatomia, Disma, Coffins, Grave, Incantation and Funebrarum, prepare to permanently add Eternal Rot to that list with "Moribound"!

The highly anticipated debut full-length by this U.K. band. Hailing from Scotland, Coffin Mulch formed in 2018 and quickly set to work on their debut demo, "Coffin Mulch", which was released a year later. Two years later came the "Septic Funeral" EP, both of which have garnered widespread acclaim in the Death Metal underground. Although undeniably a Death Metal band, the quartet come from a diverse musical background, having played in a variety of different bands throughout the years, but started Coffin Mulch to play old school, heavy and pounding Death Metal influenced by late 80´s / early 90´s gods like Entombed, Autopsy, Massacre, Death and Bolt Thrower. They´re all punks at heart, though, and the DIY ethic and aesthetic is just as important to them as the tunes. And "tunes" they indeed have across their full-length debut, "Spectral Intercession". With gutted tones just on the right side of raw and a horrifying intro to set the scene, Coffin Mulch lurch and crunch forward with ominous intent. Each of the album´s eight tracks offers ample proof of the potency of traditional, turn-of-the-90´s Death Metal, especially so, when it´s done with this much passion and intensity. Indeed, no matter the tempo employed (and quite often, the band stick to a headbanging gallop), Coffin Mulch make you feel every mangled riff, every ragged drum-hit, every tortured tonsil... The songwriting may be simple, but it´s not simplistic, and it´s their execution that truly puts over "Spectral Intercession". Nevertheless, they´re not afraid to put a little twist here and there, whether it´s a fleeting (and subtly employed) guitar effect or an intentionally askew transition, and the rare guitar solo really hits with soul-searing aplomb. Or witness the eerie, climactic closer "Eternal Enslavement," where a doomed morass opens up and swallows the listener whole. There´s no shortage of "old school" Death Metal records these days, but it´s rare to find one with such personality that´s unselfconscious and not belabored. Coffin Mulch find that sweet spot with "Spectral Intercession"!

The highly anticipated 5th full-length by this Italian band. By now, those who follow our dark deeds should be well familiar with Valgrind. Despite forming all the way back in 1996 and releasing three demos and an EP before going on hiatus in 2002, it was the 2012 debut album, "Morning Will Come No More" where Valgrind kicked off their activities... and there´s been no looking back. With steadfast dependability and ever-so-slight "progression" each time, these Italians have quietly become stalwarts of classics-minded Death Metal that isn´t completely blinkered by the past. Yes, their influences largely remain the same -foundational Morbid Angel, Pestilence, Death, Nocturnus, Possessed, Monstrosity and Immolation- but Valgrind have increasingly sought their own muse, becoming more personal in lyrical approach whilst keeping their attack trend-free Death Metal. But if 2020´s Memento Mori-released "Condemnation" signaled a sea-change for Valgrind -an undeniably "something", a never-belabored uniqueness, despite mostly still sounding like the same band- then they certainly continue this sterling development with "Millennium of Night Bliss". Indeed, there´s an eerie aura and a more supernatural lyrical bent that fuel Valgrind´s fifth album, and the power-trio duly whip forth a vortex of dark and dazzling technicality and jaw-dropping chops. Everywhere you turn across the nine-song/38-minute work, there´s some slipstreaming portal opening up into another into another ad infinitum; one could say "Millennium of Night Bliss" isn´t so much a "complex" record (although it is) as it´s one of rippling darkness and dementia. Truly, Valgrind sound mental here, as the blazing angularity and "tunefully atonal" intensity hearken to such once-slept-on classics as Immolation´s "Here in After" and Morbid Angel´s "Formulas Fatal to the Flesh". However, the Italians still continue to exert their own identity, adding just the right amount of melody and making the remarkably crisp and clean production work entirely for them. Could "Millennium of Night Bliss" be Valgrind´s best record yet? Put in the work and lose thyself in its labyrinths, and surely will you see the night-blissful truth!

The highly anticipated 2nd full-length by this U.S. band. Although they formed in 2018, Conjureth went on a tear starting in 2020, unleashing two demos, "Foul Formations" and "The Levitation Manifest", which all culminated in their debut album for Memento Mori. Ominously titled "Majestic Dissolve", Conjureth´s first full-length achieved its goal: continuing the traditions forged by the originators of Death Metal, and then some. That they achieved that goal so swiftly and effortlessly was perhaps unsurprising -after all, this lineup of Conjureth do have or have done time in such bands as Encoffination, VoidCeremony and Ghoulgotha, among many others- but the power-trio slayed their way through late 80´s-inspired filth like a well-oiled/slimed machine. Now, Conjureth return with an album that arguably eclipses that all-too-considerable predecessor: "The Parasitic Chambers". Keenly understanding that Death Metal doesn´t need to change -or rather, the wheel doesn´t need reinvention- Conjureth turn that wheel with even more power and poise than before whilst keeping their core sound intact. Like that predecessor, "The Parasitic Chambers" locates that all-too-short time when Death Metal wasn´t primarily full of blastbeats, caveman riffs, ultra-low-tuned guitars and super-guttural vocals, slotting into that bygone age of 1986-to-1989-style Death Metal with a heaping portion of Thrash Metal riffing and a dash of the technical side of things that would be unearthed a few years later. If anything, Conjureth make their deathrashing musings even more manic and muscular here: while more ripping than ever, the riffing takes tons of wild and weird detours, often literally blowing the mind, as the rhythms take the "by the books" approach and bend the cover backwards; meanwhile, the trio´s multi-tentacled attack retains a full-bodied sense of heft that´s sharpened to an enviable degree by the clear-yet-crushing production. Or, simply imagine late 80´s Tampa receiving strange and unsettling transmissions from Finland a few years ahead. If "Majestic Dissolve" celebrated the past giving birth to the future, then "The Parasitic Chambers" is the sound of that future beginning to beautifully rot. Graced with yet another mesmerizing cover courtesy of Erskine Designs, "The Parasitic Chambers" continues Conjureth´s ascent as one of the most time-warping bands around!

The long-awaited 7th full-length by this U.S. band. True purveyors of aural torment, Rigor Sardonicous are one of the cultest bands of the American extreme Metal underground. Formed in 1988, the long-standing duo of bassist Glenn Hampton and vocalist/guitarist Joseph Fogarazzo remain one of the darkest and creepiest bands calling "Death Metal" home. Aided by their ever-trustworthy drum machine, Rigor Sardonicous are utterly lifeless and excruciatingly slow, almost daring the listener to find any "fun" in their all-devouring void of inertia. You could almost qualify their music(k) as Doom/Death Metal, but not in the traditional sense; existing for as long as (and even longer) than aesthetic forebears like Unholy and Evoken, Rigor Sardonicous´ slo-mo sizzle equally bears a future-primitive texture not unlike earliest Godflesh or especially the cult Skin Chamber. And so it goes with "Praeparet Bellum", the band´s first full-length recording in over a decade. Immediately and ruinously recognizable as Rigor Sardonicous, "Praeparet Bellum" thankfully features all the duo´s signature elements: crushing heaviness, beyond-guttural vocals and the very slowest of songwriting movement, but devolves them to a frightening degree. Perhaps because of their eerie absence since 2012´s Memento Mori-released "Ego Diligio Vos", Rigor Sardonicous sound more unique than ever on "Praeparet Bellum": the sub-genres of Doom/Death Metal and Funeral Doom are definitely in full swing, but there´s little to nothing around as unremittingly empty and hopeless as this. You don´t "listen" to this album, and you most definitely don´t "endure" it, for its ominous corpulence is only experienced. Bleak? That´s simply too fun. Here stands the End of all Ends. Be warned: you will not return from "Praeparet Bellum"!

A CD that compiles the two EP´s spawned by this up and coming, promising U.S. band so far, previously only available on digital since their late November 2021 release. Acid Birth is an enigmatic two-piece act composed of Morg (guitars, bass, vocals) and Tomb (drums, vocals) that hails from the boggy swamps of New Orleans. Accordingly, their strain of Death/Doom Metal is drenched in miasmatic heaviness, wallowing in slime and emitting a moldy odor that shall delight the most demanding palates. Death and decay finds us all. Iniquitous indulgence taunts our minds. Revel in this savage world of ours amongst the rot and filth that Acid Birth provides. Totally recommended to fans of Mortiferum, Spectral Voice, Gatecreeper, Cerebral Rot, Apparition, Wharflurch...

The highly anticipated debut full-length by this Canadian band. Sedimentum was born in 2018 when a few friends who had been wanting to play filthy Death Metal for a little while, got together in the extreme coldness of Québec City. Theirs is an atavistic and gnarly form of Death Metal mainly influenced by old Finnish and English bands that strikes the listener as being straight up summoned inside unbounded, dreary catacombs from a long buried past. Pounding blastbeats, insufferable slow parts and weird Finnish riffs blend well together in their take on modern Death Metal. But make no mistake: Sedimentum ain´t just about cavernous ambience. They ain´t just about dank atmosphere: their music is filled to the brim with memorable, utterly heavy riffs that suck you in and spit you out into a vortex of putridity where all you can do is wallow in the sludge and gasp for air until your certain demise. After releasing a critically acclaimed demo in 2019 and a couple of split 7" EP´s, here comes the band´s debut on full-length format. "Suppuration Morphogénésiaque" dives headlong into a chunky blend of overdriven bass, gut-splitting guitars, skull-pummelling drums and absolutely gargantuan vocals. Befitted with a raw, uncompressed production that harkens back to when Death Metal terrified the masses with its violently unwelcoming sounds, this is not an album that faint-hearted trendies will like. This is pure unfiltered filth. As the glorious Brad Moore cover artwork aesthetically displays, the grotesque and malignant horrors on this album are vibrant and unforgettable, something the music lives up to and surpasses expectations with. Taking the gloom of some Death/Doom Metal but keeping the overall mood much more feisty and aggressive, there is bark and bite on this album while never being superficial about its actual feel. Everything seems too candid and urgent to be premeditated, with precision but also spontaneity, there is no holding back the beast that is Sedimentum now they have lurched and lumbered forth from whichever catacombs they dwelled within.

A CD that compiles the two demos released by this old, obscure Canadian Death Metal band: "Ancestral" (1993) and "Forgotten Survivor" (1994). Ancestral was formed in the summer of 1991 in Montreal, QC, by two friends from high school, namely Marc-Antoine Papineau (drums) and Frédéric St-Marseille (guitar). At first, the two friends were just having fun jamming together, but the more time passed, the more their musical passion grew. They wanted to turn the band into a more serious project, therefore two other school friends joined the band, namely Martin Jetté (bass guitar) and Christian Pocetti (guitar). Shortly after, the lineup was completed with the addition of Daniel Collin (vocals). The band began to rehearse a few songs from other bands, and at the same time they started writing their own material. Being already greatly influenced by European acts such as Entombed, Pestilence and Dismember, but also keeping an eye out on certain U.S. influences (Suffocation among others), and already applying a rather technically sophisticated touch for young rookie musicians, they entered the studio to record their debut, eponymous demo, only a year after the band´s inception. From that moment on, the band gradually began to break into the local Death Metal scene, and shared the stage with acts such as Cryptopsy and Kataklysm, as well as some foreign bands such as Suffocation, Incantation and Macabre. A great friendship between the band members and those of Cryptopsy and Suffocation resulted from those shows, allowing Ancestral to find themselves performing alongside Cryptopsy and Suffocation very often. Keeping a lot of the same influences they displayed on their first demo, but adding the new touch of bands like Dark Tranquility and At The Gates, the band returned to the studio by the end of 1994 and recorded their second and last demo, titled "Forgotten Survivor". Ancestral split up in 1995 following the departure of Daniel Collin.

The impressive debut full-length by this French band. Fall Of Seraphs was summoned in the Bordeaux area, back in 2014, and is comprised of a bunch of active musicians who also play or played in underground acts such as ADX, Manzer, Ossuaire, Simulacre, Ad Patres, Reverence and Quintessence, among many others. In 2017 came the band´s debut EP, "Destroyer of Worlds", followed by a split with their old pals in Trepanator, titled "Incarnation of Torture", released the following year. With those two teasing short-lengths as a foundation, Fall Of Seraphs now bloom into the titan they´ve but hinted at with their imminent debut album, "From Dust to Creation". As before, Fall Of Seraphs´ brand of Death Metal is proudly anchored in the tradition of yore, relying on heaviness, malignancy and non-excessive technicality, shrouded in total and almost palpable blackness, and displaying a remarkable sense of vitality and dynamism that always keeps the listener busy and wondering what´s coming next in their (apparently) everlasting feast of headbang-inducing riffs and sharp-yet-beautifully executed leads. However, where the band break out is the bustling flow in which they dole out their death metalled ruminations. Yes, keenly note flow: for however busy some of these seven compositions seem on the surface, there´s a graceful movement almost at odds with their ultraviolence. Credit that to Fall Of Seraphs´ enviable chops, both as songwriters and especially as musicians; dazzling and dexterous they may be, but they keep it all all-caps Death Metal for the entire 30-minute duration. And the solos: "From Dust to Creation" poignantly proves that this isn´t a lost art in Death Metal after all! "Sublime" or at least "tasteful" are two ways to describe that soloing, but "fucking awesome" might be the most apt! As such, Fall Of Seraphs come highly recommended to maniacs of classic Morbid Angel, Deicide, Vader, Immolation, Krabathor and Angelcorpse. Graced with fittingly cataclysmic cover art courtesy of Erskine Designs, "From Dust to Creation" is a literally massive first full-length bound to create all-devouring waves!

Morbific is a rotten-to-the-core Death Metal trio deformed in the filthy and profaned boneyard of Kitee in early 2020, featuring Olli (guitar), Jusa (vocals/bass), and Onni (drums). The band´s "Pestilent Hordes" demo was unleashed in the summer of 2020, and it rapidly gained them some following amongst the finest gourmets of the variety of festering, moldering and disgusting Death Metal that´s malignantly influenced by Autopsy, Rottrevore, Deteriorot, Mortician, Grave, Maimed, Undergang, Impetigo, and ancient Finnish masters of death and decay such as Funebre and Disgrace. Shortly after, in the spring of 2021, the debut full-length "Ominous Seep of Putridity" saw the odious light of day to unanimous praise by both the fans and the media. Now, it´s time to ooze some more pus again and make the second abscess an even more sickening ordeal to experience than any other before: enter "Squirm Beyond the Mortal Realm". All too perfectly titled, Morbific´s second album is a slimy, sludge-strewn landscape where barbaric stomp and cyclonic vortexes get blown the fuck out with an almost demo-level feel. However, lumber under no assumption that this is accidental, or the result of budgetary constraints, or some such other nonsense. No. Morbific gleefully want to punish the listener with an uncomfortable experience that´s fit only for the deadest of diehards. And yet, open thine ears to such sickness and one will find that "Squirm Beyond the Mortal Realm" is even stranger and more unsettling than its absurdly raw aspect suggests; the riffs themselves here sound wrong, the bass sounds like nuclear fallout, and the perversely spacious mix allows supernatural horror to creep in as these sounds clash and slash the listener. Which is to say nothing of the wandering, tension-heightening songwriting itself... To restate the should-be-obvious, this is not trendy "Death Metal" for the masses! Peer deeply into the grim and grimy cover art courtesy of Chase Slaker, and perhaps you´ll begin to understand what awaits within Morbific´s "Squirm Beyond the Mortal Realm". The first step into it will be your last...

The long-awaited 2nd full-length by this Romanian band. This putrid ensemble was formed in Bucharest back in 2014 as an old-school Death Metal side-project to the experimental doom/noise/stoner-improv band Keeng Ra´at: both bands contained the same three members. By 2015, five songs were written, and recordings began in December of that year. Ultimately, six songs (plus intro and outro) came out in April 2016 as the "Unfazed by Death" demo, which turned out to be a remarkable, sick trip into the bowels of murky and foul-smelling Death Metal. In the meantime, another guitarist joined the band, and the original bassist left and rejoined later on. The original drummer and vocalist also left the band in August of that year, and another drummer then joined, while the vocals have been henceforth handled by the original guitarist. With that lineup thus set, Rotheads burst from the bowels of the ugliest underground with their aptly-fucking-titled debut album, "Sewer Fiends", for Memento Mori in 2018. Unyielding and unapologetic, Rotheads took their aggregate influences -particularly from the classic early 90´s Finnish scene (Convulse, Abhorrence/Amorphis, Sentenced, Demigod, Depravity), as well as other timeless crypt dwellers such as Autopsy, Gorement, Edge of Sanity, Accidental Suicide, Incubator and Asphyx- and proceeded to create a mesmerizingly murky and moody work with their debut album

The highly anticipated 2nd full-length by this Russian band. Hailing from Nizhny Novgorod and formed in February 2013, Wombripper have ever since leaned towards the Swedish school of Death Metal with raw, crunchy buzzsaw guitars and straightforward compositions. Highly influenced by Grave, Entombed and Dismember, their first demo, "Morbid Aberrations", was recorded and released in 2014, and the band shared the stage with some of the genre's milestones such as Necrophobic, Nominon and Fleshcrawl, and also newer underground acts such as Undergang, Nocturnal Witch, etc. After several lineup changes, the 4-track EP "Infected Tomb" was recorded and self-released by the band in 2017. That same year, Wombripper recorded their debut album, "From the Depths of Flesh", which was released in 2018 by different labels, such as Redefining Darkness Records (U.S.A.) and Grotesque Sounds (Russia). "From the Depths of Flesh" gained them lots of positive feedback from the media and old school Death Metal fans alike, as the album displayed some top-notch Swedeath, an aural massacre featuring plenty of catchy and morbid melodies, blazing solos and blasting devastation. Now scaled back to a 3-piece, Wombripper put the power in power-trio with their crushing second album, "Macabre Melodies". Ever aptly titled, "Macabre Melodies" is both macabre to the max as well as melodic -in a most macabre manner! Wombripper are nothing if not maniacs devoted to pure 90's Death Metal, and that vintage aspect rings proud and true here, adding to (but never subtracting from) the iron-clad foundation laid down by Dismember back then, keeping the guitars gutsfucking and incredibly tuneful, with hummable tunes you simply won't be able to get out of your head. But lest anyone linger under the assumption that "melodic" equates to some weakening aspect, fuck right off here: Wombripper are not named that for no reason, and "Macabre Melodies" encapsulates and then eclipses their no-less-righteous prior recordings, making for the band's apex to date and all without sacrificing an ounce of crush or credibility. Graced with stark and haunting cover art courtesy of MFA XII, "Macabre Melodies" is the sweet song you'll hear... before you die! Fans of classic Entombed, Fleshcrawl, Entrails, Nirvana 2002, Dismember, Grave, Demonical, Carnage and God Macabre: Wombripper is your favorite new old-style band!

The terrific 3rd full-length by this notable Melbourne based band. Borne out of the members desire to see a resurgence of a heavier, more dissonant style of Death Metal back in 2006, Ignivomous were among the first wave of bands to reignite interest in the genre in the first decade of this century. "Hieroglossia" preserves the core membership of the band present throughout its tenure -Sean Hinds (guitar), Chris Broadway (drums) and Jael Edwards (vocals)- and presents the recording debut of Lewis Fischer (Altars) on guitar and Chris Jordon (Inverloch, Eskhaton) on bass, both of whom have cemented the band's live assault for the previous few years in a campaign of high-profile shows in their native Australia. This lineup in its current form has secured and built upon the band's unrelentingly legacy, oozing raw, sinister Death Metal pushed a step further into the void, creating an album which synthesizes the bands influences with a definitive and individual vision. While projecting a murky and atmospheric take on the Death Metal template, the eight organic and primal songs on "Hieroglossia" avoid sacrificing the primacy of the riff for reverb-drenched formlessness, or songwriting in favour of dissonance for its own sake. Thematically, "Hieroglossia" continues Ignivomous' investigation into topics of philosophical pessimism, influenced by the works of Thomas Ligotti and E.M. Cioran, and gnostic concepts of the fallen and hostile nature of the material world, presented throughout with a literary sensibility which should be accustomed to those familiar with their previous output. Previously released on LP through Nuclear War Now! in November 2019, "Hieroglossia" was also released as a strictly limited tour edition digisleeve that was available for purchase during the band's European tour in late 2019. That digisleeve version did not include the official cover art and was roughly mastered. Memento Mori's version is presented in a regular jewel case, featuring the original cover art and layout by Stefan Thanneur, and a proper mastering work by James Plotkin (O.L.D., Khanate) at his own Plotkinworks Studio.

The long-awaited 2nd full-length by this U.S. band. Since the dawn of the Paleolithic age, mankind has recorded spectacular scenes of death, whether in scenes of cannibal feasts crudely etched on cave walls, massacres immortalized in glyphs adorning monuments of the ancient kingdoms, or in chance recordings of grisly accidents, compiled and sold on home video to those with a thirst for that which is denied to them by our "civilized" society. Spawned in the contaminated sewers of Santa Cruz, CA in 2013, Dipygus began as a 4-piece mutation performing rudimentary styles of Death Metal, a sonic evolution of the tradition continued from the time of Cro-Magnons. A 2015 demo recording, the earliest surviving documentation of the band, reveled in unexplained and bizarre events, including peculiar methods of whale carcass disposal and otherworldly monsters from on and off the silver-screen. After a lineup change in 2016, Dipygus recorded the "Long Pig Feast" EP, which featured terrifying rites, ritual mutilations, and ominous sightings of a Mesozoic relic in the heart of the Congo. The debut album, "Deathooze", slowly de-composed in the murky shallows of powerplant runoff in the Monterey Bay, ultimately being recorded in 2018. Though quickly banned in over 16 countries, the debut album -exhibited in North America by Expansion Abyss and Caligari Records- attracted immediate attention among slime fetishists and similarly deviant circles. Placed appropriately alongside the Fiji mermaids and other grotesque artefacts found in curio cabinets of modern-day antiquarians, "Deathooze" continued the band's exploration of inexplicable incidents, mysterious beasts and shocking carnage, including genuine audio recovered from a fatal attack at the hands of an ape gone mad! Following their debut album, Dipygus was conjoined with an additional member, and began a new exploration in search of secrets hidden in the jungles of lost continents, where life is cheap. After successful initiation into the shadowy world of black-market cuisine, an agreement was reached with Memento Mori for the release of Dipygus' 2nd full-length, "Bushmeat". Showcasing more exotic and repulsive themes of the supernatural and taboo, "Bushmeat" presents an uncensored and unrelenting spectacle, with each element of the previous work irresponsibly taken to a further extreme. A prime cut of raw and grueling terror, it is fit for consumption by headhunters, body-snatchers, toad-venom junkies, cargo cultists, aquatic ape theorists, disaster tourists, carriers of tropical disease, voodoo practitioners and orgone revivalists only. All others have been warned... Memento Mori recommends Dipygus for fans of Autopsy, Impetigo, Undergang, Asphyx and Nuclear Death. But why not enter the jungle in search of "Bushmeat" and find out for yourself? The album was tracked at Darker Corners Studios, the new venture of Matt Harvey (Exhumed, Pounder, Gruesome) and Alejandro Corredor (Nausea, Pounder), ensuring utterly crushing sound. And with mixing by Earhammer Studios and mastering by Mammoth Sound, not to mention form-fitting cover art courtesy of Doug Camp, Dipygus' "Bushmeat" is guaranteed to be a grisly good time!

The highly anticipated 2nd full-length by this Canadian band. With beginnings in 2011, Altered Dead are a two-piece contributing to the tradition of early Death Metal with a simple and therefore genuine approach: no frills, filthy and raw, proudly influenced by the likes of Autopsy, Death Breath, Grave, Asphyx, Darkthrone, Unleashed, Exhumed and Carnage. Released in 2016, Altered Dead's debut album, simply self-titled, was a cornucopia of darkness and utter death. Twisted and gross riffs ripped alongside warring treads of percussion, with the accompaniment of scalded and bellowing dual vocals mangling the listener's mind. Similarly, lyrical themes revolved around physical and mental warfare, mutating human nature and imminent conflict and collapse. Currently residing in Esquimalt, on southern Vancouver Island, the duo have had numerous live performances and subsequently started work on their long-awaited 2nd full-length. At last it arrives, bearing the ever-fitting title "Returned to Life". Be forewarned, though, as there's no "Life Metal" here: only utter death, once again, and darkness eternal, of course. The strikingly sick and psychedelic cover art by Matt Sidney should give some clues as to where Altered Dead are coming from here: tendrils of slimy and viscous riffage rising from the muck to ensnare martial mid-tempo gallops and frequent detours into doomed-out despair. The sum effect is infinitely headbanging as it is scabrously sewer-dredging, but rest assured that Altered Dead place a premium on stridently classic songwriting as their aforementioned forebears did at the dawn of the 90's: hooks, line and sinking... into the primordial abyss! Thus, "Returned to Life" is both backwards-looking as well as inward-looking -as in inward into that very same abyss. And, it also bears re-emphasizing that Altered Dead are a duo; however, for only two people, the band create a world-eating sound far larger than their pared-down membership may convey on paper. Credit due to Loïc Fontaine for his clear and crushing mastering job at Krucyator Studio, France. Closing with a faithful cover of Celtic Frost's "Into the Crypts of Rays", Altered Dead deliver traditional Death Metal perfection with "Returned to Life".

The classy 2nd full-length by this Spanish band. Devotion was founded in the autumn of 2012 in some rehearsal rooms near Valencia, where some seasoned veterans of the local underground Death Metal scene were summoned by Julkarn (bass/vocals in Graveyard) to provide backing vocals on a track of their last opus to date. The recruited crew consisted of Sergio (Profundis Tenebrarum, Domains), David Agressor (Domains) and Vicent Riera (ex-Obscure / Nadir). When the recording sessions were over, they decided to start up a new band, featuring Julkarn on guitar, David Agressor on bass, Sergio on drums, and Vicent on vocal duties. After a number of lineup changes over the years, with Julkarn and Vicent remaining the core of the band, it's the addition of David Garcia (ex-Obscure, Nadir) on drums and Txito (Visceral Damage, ex-Voice Of Hate) on bass that finally stabilize the band's lineup. In 2016, Devotion recorded their debut album, "Necrophiliac Cults", only released on CD format through the Spanish labels The Horror Dimension and Pathologically Explicit Recordings. For this recording, the quartet counted on the priceless participation of Igor Mesmer (Circumcelion) on keyboards, who unfortunately passed away shortly after the release. Following the album's release, Devotion played several shows with bands such as Interment, Dead Congregation, Graveyard, Korgull the Exterminator, Mercyless, Putrid Offal, Primigenium, Dead, Schirenc plays Pungent Stench, Oniricous, Balmog, Himura and Convulsions among others, and even despite the current Covid-19 pandemic, the band's more than willing to continue spreading their Metal of Death anywhere possible. At long last, nearly 5 years later, Devotion deliver their 2nd full-length: "The Harrowing". Very aptly titled, "The Harrowing" sees the Spaniards taking their eldritch death in a darker and much-more-haunting direction. The throb is filthy and utterly crushing, and tastefully embellished with otherworldly synth; ghosts could very well linger underneath these megatons of sewer-reeking riffage. Likewise, the 13-track album is structured into "chants" and "dirges" -the former atmospheric interludes no less crucial to the experience, the latter lumbering Metal of Death par excellence. As ever, the ilk of Death Metal that Devotion display is not affiliated to any particular school, let alone any current trend, for it's all about uncompromising, organic, putrid, crushing and timeless Death Metal as we knew it in the early/mid 90's: eminently mid-paced and drenched in a rotting atmosphere, with a strong penchant for memorability and catchiness, which is a trait that seems to be lost in most of today's Death Metal. Fans of über-classic acts such as Asphyx, Bolt Thrower, Morgoth, Benediction, Grave, "The Key"-era Nocturnus, and especially "Testimony of the Ancients"-era Pestilence, are wholeheartedly encouraged to witness "The Harrowing" and partake in Devotion's masterful lurch and crunch. With mastering by Javier Felez at Moontower Studios, you're guaranteed it's crushing as fuck and hauntingly atmospheric, and this monument of madness is suitably completed by Diko Nursyahra's regal cover art.

A CD that compiles all three demos by this obscure U.S. band. Cross Fade was formed in Mastic (Long Island, N.Y.) in March of 1991. Scot Trollan (vocals), John Tinger (guitars), Eric Rhodes (drums) and John Colucco (bass) would form one the most intense bands to ever rule a stage. Cross Fade was fortunate to have spawned and thrived in the primordial era of Long Island Death Metal, a force to be reckoned with amongst other global Metal sounds. And Cross Fade was there, absorbing it and spitting out their own unique brand of extreme music. A band with infinite potential, gaining speed and ferocity only to implode like a black star in 1994. A band whose live sound was 100 times more intense than on tape. Cross Fade looked to create fresh diverse extreme sounds, with various influences ranging from Pink Floyd and Primus to Deicide, Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse. A socially aware band, the lyrics dealt with subjects like religious falsehood, global colonialism, pollution and mental illness. A constant on the live front, Cross Fade played early backyard and legion hall shows with what would become and continue to be the core of LIDM (Internal Bleeding, Pyrexia and Suffocation), and would cut their teeth on the stages of infamous N.Y. clubs like L'Amour, Sundance, Sparks and The Roxy, sharing the large stage opening for bands such as Morbid Angel, Sorrow, Internal Bleeding and Pro-Pain. Cross Fade was prolific in the underground zine and trading scene, sending out hundreds of demos to fanzines and Metal fans at cost, as well as handing out hundreds of free demos at the many many live shows and events they did. With the release of the self-titled demo in January 1992, the band showed where both them and the extreme sounds of the next century were going. Releasing the infamous "Ruined" demo later that year, Cross Fade was quickly becoming recognized as a force in the underground. Ferocious, moving, intense, intelligent... The band had established its sound and started doing out of state shows. In 1993 the band continued to play, promote, create, write and record, but the cracks of doom started to show. Internal creative tensions, commitments to responsibilities, all the things that come with being in a real band, were starting to weigh, all the while making the sound sharper, maner, more complex, more musical. 1994 led to the very limited release of the "Untitled" demo. This one was barely promoted or handed out, and the pressures of recording were enough to drive a final wedge in the band and ultimately lead it to ruin. All songs restored and subtly remastered for a more pleasurable listening experience. Cover art and layout by Cesar Valladares. The 16-page booklet features lyrics, photos, bio and liner notes by Scot Trollan and John Colucco. Absolutely recommended to fans of spazztic yet catchy, ridiculously dynamic, highly original, fucked up Death Metal with a vocalist that sounds like a mentally deranged John Tardy on crystal meth.

The crushing debut full-length by this German Death Metal warmachine that was previously only available on vinyl/tape/digital since its April 2019 release. Minenfeld started as a rehearsal room project in summer 2016. They never intended to record anything, particularly no album. Actually they started the band as a drunken idea, born from their passion for old school Death Metal (most notably Bolt Thrower, Hellhammer and Beherit), but immediately got to play a show, so they were pretty much forced to write a few songs. Afterwards, they decided to record those songs, which led to the split w/ Kriegszittern. After another split w/ Cryptic Brood and the release of a promo tape in between splits, they decided to record their debut album, "The Great Adventure", at the Tonmeisterei Oldenburg studios in Autumn 2018, which was released by Fucking Kill Records (vinyl) and Lycanthropic Chants (tape). The band's topic of choice for the lyrics since day one has been WW1. The idea has always been to create music that captures this war in all its crudeness and primitivism, and sonically conjure up the mud, steel, blood and death in these battlefields. To achieve this, the music is heavy, rumbling, apocalyptic, grinding and thundering, accentuated by many original samples from those times: songs, speeches and excerpts from radio broadcasts, most especially taken from the U.S. propaganda after their entry into the war. The idea to contrast this propaganda of a "great adventure" that awaits on the other side of the world with the sad reality of war, where many searched for glory yet only found death, fascinated them and led them to write the album, and ultimately use that "great adventure" expression as the title. Utterly recommended for fans of Bolt Thrower, Asphyx, Hail Of Bullets, Just Before Dawn, Decaying, early Sacrilege...

The astounding debut full-length by this U.S. darkened Death/Doom Metal juggernaut, including the "Rituals of Extinction" EP (2017) as bonus. Like the earlier recordings of this Texan based act, "Voidgazer" presents a starkly monolithic variety of Death Metal that reflects the emptiness personified in the title. The sound itself evokes the same stifling oppressiveness of Incantation and Immolation, as it alternates between fast tempos and bludgeoning doom passages, firmly aligning itself with one of the most revered schools of U.S. Death Metal. Perhaps most impressively, all instruments and vocals are performed by the lone member of Pneuma Hagion, unassumingly known as R., whose gnostic reflections pervade the lyrics that are animated by his own tortured voice. The sum of these 12 songs is certain to endear "Voidgazer / Rituals of Extinction" to any dedicated adherent to the worship of the bleakness of human existence, and massive, brooding and ominous Death/Doom Metal with a Lovecraftian atmosphere.