Perverse Dependence - Gruesome Forms of Distorted Libido (Soulflesh Collector Records; 2009)

Russian Brutal death metal has been very fruitful over the past couple years, most notably the legitimate classic In The End of Human Existence by Abominable Putridity. Perverse Dependence, from the far northern city of Archangelsk, are a relative newcomer to the Russian scene but are definitely welcome addition.

Perverse Dependence claim to be "US way brutal death" but I think the bands they sound closer to are the Czech heavy deathgrinders Poppy Seed Grinder and Alienation Mental. Of course every brutal death band can claim influence from the US considering the fact that is where the genre originated. Wherever Perverse Dependence take their influences from, they have created a very good style of their own. Their songs are very short but are packed with furious grinding, catchy midpaced grooves, and every once in a while a super slow part or, as Andy likes to call them, "funeral slams". Every song on Gruesome Forms of Distorted Libido is pretty much the same, but the short lengths and general dynamics keeps things quite interesting. I especially liked the vocals which were both guttural and varied.

Enlivening the cold mechanics of the song structures (which you could probably find more interestingly utilized by the previously mentioned Czech bands) is a powerful, intangible energy. It makes the overall experience better. It's hard for me to describe but it sounds like Perverse Dependence really like this kind of music and play it with a lot of passion. Maybe I'm the only who hears it, but as a person who shares this passion it is gratifying to know the bands I like share it too.

Gruesome Forms of Distorted Libido didn't have any particular parts on it that stood out as amazing but as a whole it's passionate and dynamic enough that I still really liked it. I think most brutal death fans would like this album especially if they enjoy some grind with your death metal.

Disastrous - Slavery of Disgusting Torture (Brute!; 2009)

Another month, another Filipino slam band gets coverage in S-M! Disastrous are no exception of course; hailing from Panabo City, these guys are here to devastate with 9 tracks of raw slamming madness and 1 very surprising choice of a cover song.

Starting off with a weird, kind of off-kilter acoustic intro, "Rise of Freddie the Blamer" morphs into a slam assault with alternating slow rhythmic sections and weird, haunting leads and channels some of the better moments of countrymen Down from the Wound, combining these aspects with a strange and appealing sound of their own. "Flesh Feast Orifice" was the first song of theirs I heard, and I like the first very Inveracity-ish riff, combining blastbeats and a slightly melodic phrasing, but the band quickly sounds a little tired, including the drummer who actually unfortunately misses a few hits here and there. Regardless, you can tell these guys are out to make some heinous brutal blasting noise and probably don't care about being inventive or technically proficient, so it's excusable for sure. The vocals are also a kind of featureless growl that doesn't have any particular phrasing to it, but instead just sounds like one-syllable vocalizations emitted over and over again. Pus Vomit showed how to add excellent vocal phrasing to slam earlier this year, and they are also Filipino, so it can be done!

"Embalmed and Bleed" has a chaotic riff structure that almost sounds ad-libbed, but it quickly morphs into an excellent slam and lurches back and forth again to encapsulate a lot of what this band's modus operandi is, in a nutshell. Slam and blast, slam and blast. Some of the riffs are more thought out and, indeed, more fleshed out, but a lot of them are amateur-ish and don't quite sound as developed as I wish they'd be. The title track begins with the requisite torture/screaming sample (I knew it had to be on this album somewhere, I mean check out the title). This song is a little longer and more interesting, and the pinch harmonic-laden slam breakdown is akin to something likely to come out of some Midwestern US state in the US slam climate at the moment, which is always pretty cool.

"Hacked Up For Mutilation" has a fucking epic riff in it, and this band's penchant for writing these is an unfortunate sticking point because they're so few and far between, buried in marring and strange, raw production and stuck between actually featureless slams. More great, melodic, driving riffs would help to offset this disparity, but writing heavy, accentuated slams instead of lax and listless slams would also assist this band in reaching a status closer to the top in this genre we worship.

"Desolate Way" is, yes, a Morbid Angel cover...of the acoustic song "Desolate Ways" on Blessed Are The Sick. A very weird choice for this band to cover...it's a song by an American non-brutal death band and it's acoustic...but it's quite well done here. Very interesting choice. I like when bands do this kind of thing, as it also shows influences, and I can tell in some parts other than this song that Disastrous are being influenced by something older than slam (the breakdown in "Vaginal Impalement Sodomy" hints at a veeeeery evil and sinister influence which could likely permeate future works by this band), which is cool.

Overall, this is a pretty good album that takes a bit of warming up to, and one that I have plenty of constructive criticism for. Look out for future releases by these guys and, closer to home, an interview we'll be doing with vocalist Delon in (approx.) the coming week! In addition, keep your eyes peeled for new released on Brute! Productions, operating out of Bangkok. Always good to have a dependable new slam label in tune, especially one with a slightly silly name. That's all for now.

Insidious Decrepancy - Extirpating Omniscient Certitude (Brutal Bands; 2009)

Shawn Whitaker is about as close to being a brutal death metal legend as you can get. The prolific Texan has been in numerous bands (Viral Load and Grotesque Formation probably being the most well known) and of course is the sole member of Insidious Decrepancy. Extirpating Omniscient Certitude is Insidious Decrepency's third album and you can tell Whitaker really knows what he's doing  as this is a high quality well recorded album.

One thing fans of the band may notice right away is that the extremely long song titles that characterized the first two albums are gone. Although I enjoyed such titles as "Surreptitious Misanthropy Voraciously Consuming Rationality Thus Invoking Dormant Sociopathic Desires" I am glad they didn't make a return as it was getting a little stale. Otherwise the anti-Christian aesthetic has remained pretty much the same.

The music on Extirpating Omniscient Certitude could be described in two words as technical TXDM. You've got all your chugging and rumbling slams of TXDM plus a lot of crazy, fast technical riffs. This works pretty well and Whitaker never lets the technical parts overpower the underlying slams. There's something satisfying about hearing a skilled guitarist play an intricate riff and then dive into some heavy slams. The drum programming and vocals are very good and clearly show the strength of Whitaker's experience. The production is also very well done and manages to be both clear and heavy which definitely suits the style found on this album.

If anything bad can be said about this album is that it never really reaches past being solid into being awesome. It could just be that this year has had some really good albums (Pathology, Human Rejection, Devourment among others) but Extirpating Omniscient Certitude doesn't quite reach the top tier. Still, it is consistently good album from a scene veteran who knows what he's doing and does it well.

New Album Release Updates

We're entering into the last quarter of 2009 so I thought I'd post a quick overview on what albums have recently come out and what you can expect in the coming weeks and months.

Gorepoflesh - Gore Fucking Corpses [OUT NOW]: Gorepoflesh come from the small Central American nation of Nicaragua and were first brought to my attention a while back when Andy profiled the small but active scene in that country (link). Gore Fucking Corpses is rather boringly titled but the tracks on myspace sound pretty good. This is the debut album for Gorepoflesh.

Official Andy Edit: This is fucking amazing, if you don't like this, kill yourself right now.

Perverse Dependence - Gruesome Forms of Distorted Libido [OUT NOW]: Perverse Dependence are another band that I heard about a while back and are now releasing their debut. They're from Russia and have released their CD on Soulflesh Collector Records. They play heavy, death-grindy slam and I hope to buy this album as soon as it gets to North America.

Vomitous - Surgical Abominations of Disfigurement [OCTOBER 09]: Vomitous are a straightforward slam band from Sweden. They released a decent split with Inhuman Dissiliency so I'm hopeful for good things from this mCD. It will be released in October by Sevared Records according to Sevared's website.

Septycal Gorge - Erase the Insignificant [OCTOBER 09]: One of the best Italian BDM bands is releasing their second album this month according to their myspace. Their debut Growing Seeds of Decay is awesome and I expect this album to be great as well. Definitely keep an eye out for this release when it comes out.

Vulvectomy - TBA [Late 09]: The self-professed "Italian Slam Gang" are back and on Sevared Records and will presumably slam us into oblivion with some new ultra-heavy, drum machine backed brutal death metal. They're a little vague on the release date, but it's an album I'm looking forward to.

Vomit the Soul - Apostles of Inexpression [OUT NOW]: Staying in Italy we find that Vomit the Soul, one of the older bands in the scene have released an album on Unique Leader. Vomit the Soul's other album Portraits of Inhuman Abomination was pretty good and other than a weird production (could just be myspace quality issues) I am enjoying their new songs.

Embryonic Depravity - Constrained by the Miscarriage of Conquest [OCTOBER 09]: The best UKDM band around in my opinion, Embryonic Depravity are finally releasing their debut full length on Permeated Records. They have previously shared a split with Gorevent and their new songs sound very good. They have a very good blasting, semi-melodic sound that is always really brutal. Pre-orders are available from Permeated.

I'll end my post here but I'm sure there are other bands releasing stuff around now that I missed. Regardless I hope this helped some people find some good new releases. Stay tuned for reviews of some of these albums and more in the coming weeks.