Amputated Genitals - Family Bloodbath (Gore and Blood; 2009)

Bringing us back to another familiar and equally awesome scene, Amputated Genitals, veterans of slamming sickness, return with a new album full of forward-charging blastfests, interesting angular riffage and some of the best vocals in the entire country courtesy of one Sebastian Guarin. Nick and I spoke to guitarist/bassist Dan Paz (who also runs Gore and Blood and is an ex-member of infamous Colombian gore squad Purulent) at MDF and when he informed us that this would see the light of day merely weeks from when we spoke, we were (needless to say) fucking psyched! All of our expectations seem to have been very highly fulfilled here, as this is a sick follow-up to the band's lone previous album, the awesome Human Meat Gluttony.

Right off the bat, we're hit with a section that reminds immediately of early Disgorge (US), with Guarin pulling off his best Matti Way impression (and a damn good one at that) while the band chugs with a rhythm sounding like it was lifted straight off She Lay Gutted with better production; a promising start, for sure. The band doesn't lose steam as they barrel through the next track, the awesomely/awkwardly titled "The Butcher's Kindergarten" and land square in the middle of a chugging slam section with perfect fluidity; these guys know how to write brutal music, that's for sure.

Let's talk about the production for a second. This is both a sticking point and a huge plus for the band. Human Meat Gluttony featured a very claustrophobic sound with an at times hard to discern guitar tone which didn't allow for the clarity of certain excellent riffs (the typical Colombian semi-epic/melodic riffing lots of bands are known for, and which AmpGen are pretty much gods of). Finding them was very rewarding, but I think this release is a bit more satisfying because, well, the tone is a lot sharper and clearer. Maybe people will find this to be a point of contention, which is why I mentioned that it may not be a unanimously agreed-upon improvement, but after a couple listens, the razor-sharpness of the new production starts to sink in and things make more sense. There's an extended "clear riff" section right in the first song that I believe proves my point fairly well; it's a well-written riff, well-played, and we can actually hear it easily this time! Points for that from me. The advance single from the album, "Murder Kit" is a raging track full of interesting (if a bit low-key) chainsaw-riffs, all blurring together under the spastic drumming to form a quite narrative song about serial murder (with a great breakdown riff section to boot; catchy, even).

Continuing on, the band barely ever does anything uninteresting on this entire album, though the full-frontal extremity could be seen as slightly overbearing at times. Alas, as slam/brutal death metal listeners, we love the extremity and thus it's not a big deal that Beto never stops pounding on the double bass, etc.! Speaking of the drumming, even though it's kind of loud on here (as Beto usually is; see Ancient Necropsy for more of his work), it's improved on the style displayed on the debut, with more fills and with some amazing gravity blasting (which I usually don't like, mind you)...there's a really fucking brutal drum/riff combo part in "Bloody Justice" that makes me want to murder a bunch of innocent people, so if that's your thing, get this now. Right now.

If you're not initiated into the cult that is Colombian slam and instead lean towards the more "clean"/clinical side of the spectrum (i.e. Abominable Putridity, Inveracity, Awaiting the Autopsy, Pathology even!), this probably won't change your mind and might even seem boring. However, to those who love their slamming brutality raw, unadulterated and putrefied, seek out this one; you will not regret it. Bonus points if you own an Amputated Genitals keychain given to you by Dan at a certain deathfest...OK, we'll stop rubbing it in. Buy or die, of course; this is legitimate Colombian sickness and you know it, so stop kidding yourself. Even the booklet is awesome (glossy, 8 page, full color just like HMG sans incredibly icky red/green Christmas color palette) and the artwork hilariously gruesome. Also, the opening track is the first slam song to ever have the words "My best friend" in it, and boy does it get unfriendly right after that. Unfriendly...that's what this is; anti-social, sick and insane music...just what we like!

P.S. one thing I have against this is it doesn't have a part like "I'LL DEVOUR YOUR FUCKING GUTS UNTIL VOMIT" like HMG did...you know what I'm talking about...you know you shit yourself when you first heard it. Makes me sad, but that gives me enough reason to play both of these albums a ton, anyway!