Album review: Vastum - Inward to Gethsemane (2023)

Vastum - Inward To Gethsemane

USA

20 Buck Spin

 

It's not like I listen to all sorts of death metal all the time, but I daresay Vastum is my favourite post-2010s modern death metal outfit.  Their unique propositions aren’t just the twin vocal attack of Leila Abdul-Rauf (throaty witch rasp) and Daniel Butler (roaring demon), but also in the way the music is made and sounds; foundation is clearly OSDM, but they have found a way to keep the melodies, riffs and rhythms both progressive and avant-garde without veering off a ‘pure’ death metal course. Aesthetically and thematically, their lyrics/titles and artwork touch upon what I would call the dark night of the soul; inner demons, twisted thoughts, spiritual torment and all that, but most importantly, it all ends in wwwuuuuurrrrgghhh and waaarrrrggghhhhh………….

Compared to 2019’s “Orificial Purge,” the latest album feels like they've toned down the groove n’ churn and instead put more emphasis on a pounding, almost droning approach. I guess there wasn't any sexy going on at Gethesemane; Jesus’ absolute mental agony, suffering and sweating blood at the knowledge of what was to come with his arrest. That's what this album does: it picks up on the anguish and incorporates it into the riffs and textures. I read a review that said this album was boring, and while I agree it certainly isn’t as ‘immediate’ as “Orificial Purge,” “Inward to Gethsemane” is nonetheless another excellent work from Vastum that reveals its treasures (and dark pleasures) with a few more spins. (Unkle Superion) 

Album review: Cerebral Rot - Excretion Of Mortality (2021)

Cerebral Rot - Excretion Of Mortality

USA

20 Buck Spin

Cerebral Rot is back in the game with their second album "Excretion of Mortality" which is once again full of blood, pus and mutilations, courtesy of 20 Buck Spin. That being said, you can expect nothing but an infestation in the ears with this profoundly disgusting, morbid and frenzied death metal attack!

The first thing that came to mind when I heard the album was the auspicious mix of influences. At the beginning of the song "Excretion of Mortality" you can hear a guitar part that seems to vibrate like a swarm of insects, which adds a lot of suspense and anxiety when the drums start in a slow tempo like a funeral procession. The tremendously deep vocals are vomited with blood along a bass that sounds like a wall of bones. At this point, bands like Demilich, Adramelech, and Abhorrence come to mind. A strong Incantation influence appears when the faster, more dissonant parts are invoked – even Autopsy comes to mind. The melodies are distinctly Finnish, whereas the dissonance sounds American. Everything sounds decidedly organic and at the same time decomposed. The next song "Vile York of Contagion" brings to mind the perfect fusion of Demilich and Morta Skuld. It is incredible how they devour the brain fluids of the great dead of yesteryear to regurgitate them and make it even more rotten. Everything sounds so familiar, yet thoroughly enjoyable. 

There are only 7 songs, although each putrid hymn exceeds the 5 minute mark and is drenched in a nauseating atmosphere that does not make you run away from the smell, but rather, sustain you from the guts. Beyond this, the songs follow a particular style of performance which can become somewhat predictable, but still great. I don't think they bring too much fresh air to death metal, especially considering how many bands are playing this style, although I do consider it as some of the best of its kind. "Excretion of Mortality" is a killer offering that expels its toxic waste with a noxious essence redolent of the dead. (Catacombs Walker)