Lord Rot – The Realm of Decay

Hailing from Scotland, Lord Rot is a solo death metal project that released their first EP, “The Realm of Decay”, in late 2015. This release takes the razor sharp riffs of the early death metal bands of the late 1980s (think Pestilence, Morbid Angel, and others) and combines them with the more aggressive side of death metal that wouldn’t surface for a few more years. That means that the blasting can get a bit heavy at times, but Lord Rot wisely reins things in often enough to keep your attention. The vocals tend to be more vicious in nature, not unlike a more death metal version of Mille Petrozza. Speaking of Kreator, they're also a good reference point for the wildly chaotic guitar solos that are featured prominently throughout this record (especially on the closing song, "Cacophony of Screams")

One nice surprise on “The Realm of Decay” is that there are a few times where the band slows things down by using cerebral, brooding melodies. Fans of Autopsy will definitely appreciate the crossover between these evil sounds and the more furious death metal that Lord Rot spends most of their time playing. Even though the production tends to be somewhat thin, it does sound noticeably thicker during these slower sections. The result is that these moments are monolithically heavy, while the faster riffs retain that primal buzzsaw tone that instantly makes every riff better. “Trapped In A Casket” shows Lord Rot using some more straight forward tremolo-picked riffs (which are later harmonized), but the band does a nice job of not abusing this riffing style, and instead leaning towards that death/thrash sound that was prevalent when the former subgenre was first birthed. While the three tracks on “The Realm of Decay” don’t show a level of memorability that many of the above mentioned bands have achieved, it is still a release that is dripping with those influences. For that reason alone, this EP is an essential listen for all fans of old-school death metal.

Be sure to check out and like Lord Rot on Facebook!

Highlights

"Trapped In A Casket"

"Cacophony of Screams"

Final Rating

4.3/5 or 86%. 

Written by Scott