1. To Sacrifice and Devour
2. Red Viscera Serology
3. Ceremony of Impalement
4. Tremble in the Darkness
5. Neon Knights (BLACK SABBATH cover)
Comment:
New mini CD with 4 new songs and a cover of BLACK SABBATH. Undoubtedly the heaviest and darkest stuff from the band to date!! AVULSED never sounded so thick and heavy and of course keeping their classic trademarks. Pure Death Metal without absurd addtional tags!!
Spain’s finest Avulsed are one of those bands that haven’t quite got the recognition they deserve, since 1991 they have been kicking out dirty, gore ridden death metal and they have a catalogue as long as your arm and while they may not be the most original band going they do what they say on the tin and do it well.
This new EP is business as usual. You have great gory artwork and lyrics and riffs as thick as marmite! The whole thing has that old school feel running through it, it brings to mind the old albums by Benediction, Bolt Thrower and Carcass but what I love on this EP is the crisp, clean production. Normally when a band plays death metal with that crusty edge it just doesn’t mix with clean modern production. The two cancel each other out but this sounds awesome and none of the grittiness or heaviness is lost.
Opening track 'To Sacrifice And Devour' kicks off with this crusty riff backed by pummeling drums which lead to a great melodic chorus that’s dark as hell and again a little reminiscent of Carcass and it sounds great. Another highlight is 'Ceremony Of Impalement'. This track is fucking killer! It runs between a shredding chorus and a groove to die for at the chorus. Towards the end there is this massive doomy riff that just crushes and has this sense of dread carried with it. It’s awesome. I was worried when reading the tracklist that the EP finishes with a cover of Black Sabbath’s 'Neon Knight’s'. I didn’t think it could be done, I thought it was going to be horrible but kudos to the band, they pull it off! I’m not a massive fan of it but it could have been terrible and to be fair once I did forget it was there and I found myself nodding along to it before I remembered what it was, it’s definitely worth a listen. I’ll leave it up to you on that one.
All in all this is great stuff; it’s a nice 20 minutes of old school death metal. No surprises nor disappointments. It strikes a balance in all the right places if you are a fan of any of the previous mentioned bands you can’t go wrong.
Altar of Disembowelment is a new release for Spanish death metal fanatics Avulsed. Having 5 tracks makes Altar of Disembowelment a short EP, however it packs a strong enough punch. Visit Avulsed’s Spotify, Bandcamp, and Facebook pages!
Altar of Disembowelment sounds just like the title sounds: nasty. The guttural growls, pummeling double bass, and distorted guitars make it all nasty. That’s pretty much what you want when listening to underground death metal and that’s exactly what Avulsed delivers. Unlike many other releases, there are no fillers, introductory movements, or boring moments. Altar of Disembowelment starts heavy, remains heavy, and ends heavy (the final track has a sweet surprise). There are lots of tremolo-picking, chugging, and rumbling bass. Note: the bass isn’t loud, but with bass-heavy headphones you should be able to hear it somewhat. While all 3 are demonstrated on each track, look to “To Sacrifice and Devour” for a general example, since it is the first track. This follows a fairly simple structure and includes more than the standard 2 or 3 riffs. You get an individual riff for sacrificing and devouring and a separate chorus that gives you the time to sacrifice and devour. Funky bell hits on the ride accent the main riff in between choruses as other cymbal hits project a unique voice for key points in the song. A tasteful song, but not the heaviest to be heard yet.
“Red Viscera Serology” is a good example of how heavy Altar of Disembowelment can get without changing up the sound too much. What I like most about “Red Viscera Serology” is how the drums play more notes leading up to important points in the song, like the bridge or a chorus, and the guitars will drone chords, both creating an intense build up to whatever the hell is next. I also like how the snare drum isn’t too sharp or shrill sounding, but it has a punch to it that jabs at the right moments. The song has 2 main parts that repeat, but are separated by a bridge of high notes. The ending is exactly how you want it: with the same intensity as one of those build ups, but lasting longer and stopping suddenly.
The introduction for “Ceremony of Impalement” sounds like it is playing for illicit people engaging in illicit conducts: nothing out of the ordinary. Avulsed takes that intro riff and changes it a bit during the choruses so you still have that “up to no good” sound, but it isn’t a complete copy of what was played before. That works out well here because the drums change appropriately for each part which distracts you from the fact that the riffs are similar. There is a ritualistic sounding solo that fades into this well where the sacrificed creature was dropped off. The music literally sounds like people are dropping off remnants of a sacrifice into a well. “Ceremony of Impalement” ends pounding this idea until it slowly fades. The song is gone, but never to be forgotten.
This song will probably be the fan favorite here: “Tremble in the Darkness” has a Threat Signal-esque intro, but loses that whole metalcore scheme quick. This song is mostly a mixture of tremolo-picked and chugged riffs with chords being the dividers. The bridge to the solo is a nice hook with harmonious rhythm playing, but soon goes back to the main riff and drum groove. I would say this is the simplest song and the song that would get the crowd going more.
Finally we have a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Neon Knights.” I actually did not even know “Neon Knights” was a cover until I saw that the song was called “Neon Knights.” It sounds very different than the original, because Black Sabbath didn’t play death metal. I was pretty surprised I couldn’t tell it was a cover because I am a huge Sabbath fan, but it just sounds so different with guttural growls, galloped chugs, and fast drumming. I don’t mind the fact it’s a cover because it sounds like something Avulsed would write on their own. I can’t say much more about it other than it’s a pretty good death metal dub of a classic song.
I loved Altar of Disembowelment. It wasn’t too extreme, but it definitely wasn’t not heavy and the drumming was spectacular. There isn’t much to dislike if you like death metal, unless you only really like the extreme stuff. It’s a good album and is only 3 Euros on their bandcamp. If the bass was more prominent this would have been a higher rate.
Actually if you want to talk about the Spanish Death metal scene you have to take as a referent, one of the pioneers and legends of the genre, Avulsed are hailing from Madrid, Spain. They have been around since 1991, always delivering such brutality, that make them essential to any collector or diehard metalhead, Avulsed has an impressive discography five demos, six full lengths becoming the most outstanding records in my opinion their album debut "Eminence in Putrescence" released in 1996 and "Yearning for the Grotesque" in 2003, also they have released several Splits and EP's, as usually happen to any band, the lineup changes has been part of them, but without a doubt they have been managed to remain active and creative during all this time, for our own good.
This occasion I'm going to review their latest job the EP titled "Altar of Disembowelment" which was mixed at Overhead Studios by Raul Fournier and mastered at Unisound by Dan Swano and the album artwork by graphic artist Juanjo Castellano. The band lead by vocalist Dave Rotten, the guitarist Jose Cabra and Juan Carlos, the bassist Tana and the drummer Erik Raya delivers an unmeasurable, reliable and brutal death metal, the first track "To Sacrifice and Devour" is structured on heavy riff, rapidly embrace you with a hellish wave by Rotten's vocals, the slow parts are brutals to build a bridge perfect to the guitar solo, then comes "Red Viscera Serology" which remain at the same pace and intensity but adding some melodic and catchy riff while the drums are relentless, as vocalist display his full range of grunts without distortion is effective and killer, the next track "Ceremony of Impalement" with impious riff, pummeling double bass drum leads the song to another level, impeccable growl vocals, unleashes the hell for whatever is coming at you, "Tremble in the Darkness" incorporates some Deathcore elements, at the beginning some palm muted guitar riff but as the tracks evolve, they faded into their classic fast paced brutality, that has defined them always, the closing track is neither more nor less, "Neon Knights" a Black Sabbath a cover that impressively doesn't sound much as the original track, but sounds more as Avulsed repertoire, Rotten and company knew how exactly inject their essence and make of this classic a remorseless version of themself, excellent way to top off the nearly twenty three minutes length of this recording.
So! if you have a chance and you still have that instinct of yesteryear for real underground music, then definitely Avulsed is the right dose for you, this recording has no fillers just enough effectiveness to drag you into hell... and I bet you, at the end you will enjoy it.
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