Monday, September 20, 2010

Gortuary - Awakening Pestilent Beings (Sevared Records; 2010)

If you listen to brutal death metal a lot you know that regional scenes tend to develop a certain style. Bands share members and play shows together and patterns can be seen past individual differences. Gortuary, hailing from Sand Diego, California, are a break from this trend though, as they share more similarities to the stomping, pit-friendly styles of Texan brutal death metal than their California brethren.

Awakening Pestilent Beings is Gortuary's second full length and in many ways is a good continuation of their first album, 2008's Manic Thoughts of Perverse Mutilation. As I mentioned earlier their style is very stompy and at times almost galloping. I'm not much of mosher, but Gortuary's slams were made for the pit. Their slamming isn't particularly unique, but it is well done. Awakening of Pestilent Beings also showcases some slight melodic tinges, along with deep, gurgling vocals, which make the mood of the album pretty dark. In this way it reminded me of the mood evoked by Gorevent. Gortuary's first album had more samples and generally felt goofier, this one feels more evil and foreboding, which I like.

What really stands out on this album though is the inclusion of some absolutely killer guitar solos. These aren't boring Technical DM style shreds. Instead, think harmonized guitar and a melody you can actually follow. Now, you might be thinking this doesn't fit with slam and without hearing it I might agree with you. However, because the musicianship is so good and, crucially, because they are not overused, the solos on this album become highlights of the album. If you like Intestine Baalism I highly recommend you listen to this album.

My one criticism of this album is that it's too short. The running time is 26 minutes and that includes a five minute interlude. The interlude was good and I'm not against its inclusion, but I would've liked to see some more metal on this album. One or two more songs would've really made this album a more satisfying listen.

Awakening Pestilent Beings is really good and features some great slams and cool guitar solos. I just wish Gortuary had given me some more music!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey man, I wanted to say thanks for the recommendation for this album in the last post. It is very awesome. I actually own their previous cd but haven't really listend to it beyond browsing for the few humourous samples, so I went back and listened to that one too. Overall I'd say this album is a huge improvement in progression for the band, finding that evil/dark vibe is great and the solos and instrumentation is superb. Its what I've been wanting for some time hehe. It gives me something to listen to whilst waiting for Abominable Putridity's new one to finally see the light of day.

Anonymous said...

Color me impressed. From the "Splatter Fecal Matter" demos to "Manic Thoughts..." to the new album you can see the logical progression of the band as they become better songwriters and players. Reminds me a bit of the new Pathology album, as in, the band has really stepped up their game on this one.
-Steve

locksmith manhattan said...

Hey man, I seen your album it looks
great !