My introduction to Cyprus death metal sickos Vomitile was 2014’s Mastering the Art of Killing and they simply won me over with gnarly memorable riffage, sparse but sick melodic soloing, throaty yet decipherable vocal rasps and an overload of fuck the modern textbook aggression that also took bits and pieces of thrash n’ punk under its blackened wings.  What the band lacked in current headlines’ gonzo insanity, they more than made up for with catchier than the clap songwriting and an old school approach that ensured each tougher than railroad spikes tune had several highly enjoyable aspects.  On LP #3 Pure Eternal Hate, Vomitile raise their personal bar by dropping an even more gangrene infectious 10 song collection that hits every bullseye with a heart-popping arrow tipped in black plague.

The militant, ironskin toughness and descending damnation grooves of Bolt Thrower, the thrashier punk as fuck old school of Deceased and slice n’ diced bits of Slayer headbang ring like old familiar artillery fire during opener “Mass Extermination’s” wired tight attack.  Drummer Hugo Olivos relies far less on relentless double-bass than he does frantic, punk-insured rapid fire snare and crosscut tom-kick surgery that keeps the pace lively and never leaden.  Guitarists Panos Larkou and George Yildizian trade mid-tempo thrashing chugs, doom-seared bottom heavy grooves and more typical speed runs with a surprising amount of note/chord clarity.  Things maintain enough infuriated tempos to ring true of the greats while variating the madness enough for maximum, mortars hitting the eardrums impact.  All the while bassist/vocalist Khatch Yildizian maintains an audible subterranean creep that rounds in the space around the guitars as his throaty, booming mid-range growl manages both mental home madness and acute catchiness that clearly enunciates the wartorn, battle-blasted lyrics with final authority.  “Pestilation” coughs up a mucous-lathered, sewage stankin’ 90s DM churn hammered into smithereens by a controlled blast beat that can barely keep in line the snake-winding arpeggios.  Groovy, cave-dwelling slowdowns call to mind some of the doomier lurching of early Fleshcrawl or even Entombed.  When the blasting returns, it brings along a chaotic yet melody-fucked guitar solo that coils around the listener’s neck like a king cobra in love.  Churning, mid-paced thrash smashings focus heavily on tangible riffing and steady, sternum cracking kick drums for some kind of Seasons in the Abyss leaned slaying that clasps the tempo tightly in place so that those intoxicating, head-nodding groove riffs graciously reenter the arena in their quest for a larger collection of severed mortal heads.

“Labeled Dead” has some road-ripping, rubber exploding riffs ala The Crown’s cutthroat, death-y Lemmy-tactics.  HUGE sludgy halts to the pacing are backed by ravaging double-bass blows and then more traditional tremolo picking storms the fences while ruthless blasts beats ensure Vomitile are much more in line with straight up death fuckin’ metal than thrash or death n’ roll.  They toy with a bit of all of it here but these guys are as scraggly of old school death freaks as they come.  Dismember and Grave were in my head on the constant double-bass battery and catchy midtempo guitar scathes of “Hatefield.”  As the song hobbles on missile-tipped crutches through a field of landmines, the second half cripples the pacing even further and adopts some first album Cathedral as well as Winter-y, Sabbed-out note bends with extra swing change in the backpocket and a fiery lil’ guitar solo to spare.  Filled bile-ducts of weighty, visceral riff-grind kick into taut blasting rage on the again Swedish tinged, old school arsenal of “Glorify the Insane.”  Doom-y rein-pulls tussle with corrosive yet semi-melodic chord pattern surges as mincing pinch harmonics pierce the aural cavities, though a slick solo later on hits all of the right tuneful notes amidst Hell’s greatest symphony.  Muck slide grooves bring out the burl during “Executioner of Strength’s” intro as harmony guitars match up the feral riffs with stinging, biting shades that induce a hypnotic, downer headbang.  Palm-muted gnashing and rib-kicking double-bass further the deliberate belligerence of the track while the excellent flow of the spiteful growls work up a devastating urgency thanks to an increase in riff speed and a sick blink n’ you’ll be blind pair of solos.

Clandestine type vibes wash like pond scum over the furiously swarming guitar figures of “To Deflesh,” and though the production here is admittedly clearer than that heard on Entombed’s legendary masterpiece, the arrangement and bite is a familiar lycanthropic puncture.  There’s still plenty of dirt to be dug and it’s some real filth for sure.  These muscular wraparound sequences splay themselves open into wounded blasts and killer change-ups with big gleaming Sunlight Studios inspired solos shining through that are fetid in their intent but crystalline in their message.  “Nothing but Pain” continues the high caliber streak of this record with each song featuring several stellar ideas; this one’s got a crippling, early Celtic Frost-bitten doom dirge going into a vile Bolt Thrower blowout thereafter and some follow-up galloping thrash lunges that rush the finish line with a killing blow readied.  Some of the record’s wildest solos are found right here and it’s only fitting that they lead back to the song’s standout slimehammer opening riff.  The full-speed reckless abandon of “Soulskinner” piles on the frenzied death/thrash speed at a decently blinding pace, leaving the many tempo morphs and grooves of “Carnal Surgery” to act as an all-purpose, all-encompassing closer.

For my money Vomitile has landed at damn near the top of the pack for this style of muggy, murk-infested death metal.  They are never too fast nor are they too sloth-y and these cats shuffle the pacing up enough so that every track is always exciting to watch progress to its blood-soaked climax.  If you like groove you’ll get it plenty here, if you like the doom-y side of the genre it’s around in spades and those of you that like tautly gripped speed freaking and carnally ugly tones then there’s more than enough to satiate a ravenous appetite all across Pure Eternal Hate.  This will be at the top of my death metal pack in 2018 without question.

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