Necrowretch leader/vocalist/guitarist Vlad apparently is obsessed with the legendary Scream Bloody Gore and said that one day he wants to create his own version of Death’s all-time classic debut album. Not that he wants to record a cover album, but an album so vicious, so gripping the way SBG was for so many people throughout the annals of metal history.

Enter Necrowretch’s debut long player Putrid Death Sorcery, a maiden entrant into the death/black metal realm and one that simply gets the job done. It’s a raging little beast with savage guitars and blazing drums. Couple that with a gritty-though-clean production and the end result is one heck of a debut full length.

There is plenty of vitriol that spews from Vlad’s throat and his take on old school death metal – with an obvious nod to “proper” black metal – is a heaping slab of venom, voracity and violence (five V words in one sentence; that has to be some sort of record). The album is unrelenting, though Necrowretch doesn’t senselessly pound away at warp speed with no actual motive behind anything.

Like some of the classics of the genre over the years, there are subtle wrinkles within each song and while a chunk of the album sounds a bit too similar at first blush, repeated listens prove otherwise. There are plenty of hooks thrown into the mix; most notably on standout “Defiler of Sacrality” and the title track, showcasing that Vlad & Co. aren’t just a couple kids mimicking their heroes.

Is Putrid Death Sorcery in the same league as Scream Bloody Gore? Not even close, but then again not many albums are. What needs to be said, though, is this album doesn’t sound a whole hell of a lot like it, either, which proves how diverse Necrowretch is. Why all the references to Scream Bloody Gore? Because Vlad says he’s been obsessing over that album for years, that’s why.

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