Scorched – Echoes of Dismemberment

After a demo and a couple of splits, American death metal band Scorched is finally about to release their debut album. And while those other types of releases are good for getting a band’s name out there, Scorched is really the type of band who is more likely to shine on a full-length. The reason for this is that they’ve crafted their own identity even before the music plays. Listening to Scorched is like watching a horror movie, which should be evident from the thrilling cinematic artwork.

The music that complements this visual is appropriate, as Scorched uses numerous creepy interludes to build a haunting atmosphere that spills over into the full-length death metal songs. The most apt comparison would be to Autopsy, who has a similar predisposition towards creating truly sickening music, but Scorched takes this a step further. As subgenres become more diluted over the decades, sometimes they lose what truly made them great, but Scorched has not forgotten this. They bring us back to a time when death metal was truly evil. The riffs on this release are twisted and make considerable use of uncommon intervals to create a bone-chilling effect.

Like most death metal, “Echoes of Dismemberment” is best enjoyed as an entire listen. The album is not devoid of individual highlights though, with “Craving Human Remnants” being the clear standout. This track opens with a wild guitar solo that could get even the most undead zombies moshing. Many of the other tracks trudge along with more than enough variety in tempo and riffing to keep your interest for the record’s duration. While interludes typically detract from the main focus of a record, they actually enhance the experience for Scorched. This makes “Echoes of Dismemberment” a very tight 40-minute album. 

Even if one were to ignore the unique qualities of this record, it is still a reliable death metal album. Of course, it is these identifiers that help Scorched rise above other bands in the scene. Regardless, “Echoes of Dismemberment” still provides brutality, aggression, and even some doomier moments. Though one might write the band off as a bit gimmicky, they never sacrifice quality (and let’s be honest here, nobody is playing death metal to make money or achieve fame). For these reasons, “Echoes of Dismemberment” is worth spinning at least a few times.

Be sure to check out and like Scorched on Facebook!

Highlights

"Craving Human Remnants"

"Autopsy Incomplete"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott

Gatecreeper / Homewrecker / Outer Heaven / Scorched - Split

It might be 2016, but the art of the 4-way split is not dead! Unspeakable Axe Records is keeping things alive with their second such split in a relatively recent period. This release once again sees 4 death metal bands from a variety of backgrounds coming together to create a unique offering of crushing brutality.

The first band up is Gatecreeper. If you worship Entombed, Dismember, Unleashed, and the like, this is going to be the band for you. This band’s riffs crush posers by being as downtuned and crunchy as possible. If the HM2 pedal is not in play here, then Gatecreeper has found an impressive imitator. Though the band does spend quite a bit of time in plodding mid-paced territory (which is where they are at their heaviest), they speed things up after a couple of minutes to give your neck a faster workout. Even as someone who never got that much into Swedish death metal, Gatecreeper hits a very satisfying spot.

Expectations for this release should be pretty high after the first song, and the good news is that Homewrecker still manages to annihilate them. Make no mistake, “Perpetrators of Annihilation” is far and away the best song on this release. It has everything to offer in terms of speed, but where it truly sets itself apart from the rest of this split is near the end when the band launches into a spacier, atmospheric section. These moments overlap clean guitars with huge, distorted ringing notes. The bass climbs higher into the mix at this point, creating a dark, disturbed atmosphere. The end result is terrifying, but incredibly enjoyable. While it goes on for quite a while (the track does break the 6-minute barrier), it is a hypnotic trance that is easy to get lost in.

The third slot on this record is an unfortunate one because nobody is living up to Homewrecker’s song. Outer Heaven, however, does a decent enough job. The song opens with a riff that, if tuned slightly higher, would feel pretty close to an old-school Floridian death metal riff (think: Death; the track is named “Death Worship”, after all). This song quickly changes into a more predictable Swedish-esque sound. For the most part, this track is well executed, but the band’s vocalist is far too low in the mix. Nevertheless, this doesn’t hurt Outer Heaven too much, and “Death Worship” is a serviceable track for this split.

Scorched closes out the record in a slightly different direction. “Autopsy Incomplete” opens with the shrill sounds that one would expect in a horror movie. The vocals eventually come in, with the band providing only a partial accompaniment, and the result is pure terror mixed with brutality. Once the band comes in for real, Scorched still manages to keep that petrifying vibe for quite a while, before exploding into a more typical death metal song. This song has some fun syncopated rhythms to it, and is definitely a lot different from the Swedish death sounds of Gatecreeper and Outer Heaven.

All in all, this 4-way split is another rousing success for Unspeakable Axe Records. Each of the 4 bands definitely has something interesting to offer, and while only Homewrecker pushes the limits of the subgenre, this release is enjoyable from front to back. The EP format definitely works better than the full-length for this style of split. Ultimately, if you’re a serious fan of discovering new death metal bands, this split is an essential purchase! 

Be sure to check out and like Gatecreeper, Homewrecker, Outer Heaven, and Scorched on Facebook!

Highlights

"Carved Into Stone" (Gatecreeper)

"Perpetrators of Annihilation" (Homewrecker)

Final Rating

4.25/5 or 85%. 

Written by Scott

Putrisect / Scorched – Final State of Existence

“Final State of Existence” is a new split courtesy of Unspeakable Axe Records that brings together two crushing death metal bands: Putrisect and Scorched. Normally I’d break out a split review by band, but in all honesty, most of the general comments about one band’s music can be applied to the other. Both Putrisect and Scorched play fairly typical old-school death metal: lots of tremolo picking, standard growled vocals, production that isn’t great but is still clear enough (with Scorched’s production gaining the edge), and the occasional blast beat (though Putrisect’s “Blasphemous Ritual” is filled with them). Scorched is a bit thrashier with their riffing, but most of the riffs on this album fall squarely in the death metal category.

One thing both bands do exceptionally well is make use of pinch harmonics. They don’t dominate the music, but they show up frequently enough to cause some serious mayhem. This is most evident on Scorched’s “Visceral Ascension”, which has the single greatest riff on the split. It causes some serious carnage, thanks in large part due to its subtle pinch harmonic usage (i.e. not Zakk Wylde level pinch harmonics). Another song deserving of special mention is Putrisect’s “Astral Martyrdom”. This one opens with a riff that would not be out of place on a mid-era Death record, and the riff is actually used quite a bit for the first minute of the song, but is played in different ways to keep things fresh.

Putrisect and Scorched both do a good job of mixing up tempos, but they never push the boundaries of either side (thankfully in the case of slow moments, and unfortunately in the case of faster ones). In fact, this would be a good summary of the split as a whole: band bands are incredibly competent and play relatively safe death metal. As much as I hate to admit it, this split took a while to get a handle on. I can’t help but feel that it would leave a more positive impact if one of the bands pushed the boundaries of death metal a bit further, but regardless, there isn’t a single weak moment on this release. If you’re a death metal fan, you’re going to be happy with the final product, particularly as old-school styled splits become less common in the metal world.

Be sure to check out and like Putrisect and Scorched on Facebook!

Highlights

"Astral Martyrdom"

"Visceral Ascension"

Final Rating

3.9/5 or 78%. 

Written by Scott