Gruesome – Fragments of Psyche

After two releases, Gruesome finds themselves in a precarious position. With “Savage Land”, they created the most authentic Death worship to ever exist, but on “Dimensions of Horror”, they took it too far. The songs went from paying tribute to Death to straight-up ripping them off. “Fragments of Psyche”, their next EP presents an opportunity to reinvent themselves by moving deeper into Death’s career. The target this time around is “Human”, and much to Gruesome’s credit, they’ve rediscovered how to be inspired by Death without stealing their riffs this time. The title track on this album could be an unearthed gem from the “Human” sessions and no one would ever know (aside from some slight production differences). The unique intervals and riffing style that characterized this period are in full form on “Fragments of Psyche”, and one can’t help but be impressed by Gruesome’s commitment to perfecting this sound. 

And then there’s the rest of the EP. The remaining 6 tracks consist of a cover of “Choke On It” (one of Death’s most underrated songs, as it has insane harmonies and bouncy riffing), and 5 demo tracks of songs that appeared on the band’s debut. Unfortunately, as a purchase, this is all somewhat worthless. “Savage Land” practically is “Leprosy”, so there’s no real value in covering a song from that album. There are some slight differentiating elements to make it sound as though it was written in the "Human" era, but nothing all that major. Additionally, the demos don’t sound all that different from the final product. Ultimately, it makes “Fragments of Psyche” appear to be a very padded release. There’s only 4 minutes of real substance on this 31-minute EP. That doesn’t mean you should avoid it, but rather just pickup the one new track on iTunes and move on (or get the 7-inch, which has only the original song and the cover). Gruesome once looked like a promising project, and the potential is certainly still there, but the band should work on making another full-length record of songs that use Death’s tropes, and not their riffs. It likely doesn’t even matter which era they pay homage to, as Gruesome has the talent to pull all of them off; they just need to be more focused, and stop releasing things for the sake of releasing something.

Be sure to check out and like Gruesome on Facebook!

Highlight

"Fragments of Psyche"

Final Rating

3.5/5 or 70%. 

Written by Scott

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

Autopsy – Skull Grinder

Another year nearly finished means another record from death metal legends Autopsy. Whether you call it a full-length or an EP, the purpose is the same: to deliver a spine-splitting affair, complete with twisted, sadistic sounds that the band has always been founded on. In that respect, “Skull Grinder” is a successful release. It is really no different from any of the band’s other work since their resurrection. Autopsy’s sound is still based around inhuman, demonic sounding vocals, regardless of whether they provide a slow, brooding approach (such as the opening section of the title track, or much of “The Withering Death”), or a more visceral, aggressive one.

The latter approach displays high tempos, tremolo-picked riffs, and sonic battery from the drums. It is nothing unique given the band’s past, but it is effective. The slower sound is where things are more interesting. The band makes strong use of dissonance, with wailing solos alongside doomy riffs, often times invoking incredible atmosphere. Some of these riffs would feel at home on a Black Sabbath record, which goes to show how well Autopsy can extract a variety of influences into their music. Even as someone that doesn’t really like much doom, Autopsy’s riffs are compelling, particularly when they lock into a groove. 

It’s hard to imagine any fan of the band would be dissatisfied with “Skull Grinder”. The only semi-legitimate complain that can be held against it is the fact that it just doesn’t have enough material. For a band who is releasing things at a record place, it couldn’t hurt to slow down a little bit and come up with a few more songs to put together a full-length. This is particularly worthwhile since there are some tracks on this EP that are not all that enticing musically (“Sanity Bleeds” and “Return To Dead”), and feel more like prolonged interludes than original full songs. These types of songs are no stranger to Autopsy’s music (“Thorns and Ashes” remains a great example from earlier in their discography), but given that this release is already quite short, they just seem to be here to pad the length.

Be sure to check out and like Autopsy on Facebook!

Highlights

"Skull Grinder"

"The Withering Death"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott