New Yorks’ Immortal Suffering return with their second full-length album and a real nice follow-up to their long awaited debut in 2015, the awesome, yet very short Asylum.  Since that record the newest member is Randall Reekstin on drums.  The rest of the band staying intact with Joe Provvisiero and Leo Bakman on guitars, John Dotzler on bass, and Ralph Spadafora and Ray Lebron both on vocals.  11 songs in 36 minutes with just enough New York pizza and throw in some Wisconsin Cheddar courtesy of Lebron and the toppings of brutality for good measure.  “Mutilated” jumps out the starting gates immediately with brutal blasting then a nice slow down.  The 1.55 part has a nice build-up with some 90’s pinch harmonics to lop off heads worldwide with the slam.  Randall adding some double bass and the guitars have a nice and heavy sound to them.  Nice vocals to go ‘round as well, adding just the right amount of growls.

“Nothing Left” opens with a Bolt Thrower feel to it with the Sherman Tank like rumbling mid-paced heaviness, this part is real cool and nice audible bass guitar.  The Bolt Thrower groove is infectious and continues then goes into a slam.  Around the 1.15 part is a little tinge of Black Metal riffing, it’s quick, so don’t fall asleep tough-guy.  The 1.41 isolated guitar part is the Holy Shit moment and right into a great slam with good chugging riffs and spot on growls and higher vocals as well.  The tune has a bit of a jumpiness to it and I like that Immortal Suffering is unafraid to return to the riff a few times, so that it embeds in the listeners dirty brain.  The end part has some great moments with the slam, the mid-paced rumbling, the quick little blasting, bass guitar moments and “Nothing Left” is one of the best songs the band has ever done.  This song absolutely needs to be in their live set.  The title track has a bit of a Fleshgrind tinge to it, especially in the vocal department and blasting parts.  Therefore I love this song, since I love Fleshgrind.  Another great song with some outstanding vocal moments and abrupt shifts in tempos again makes this a memorable song.  The rest of the album goes along the same path and the band ventures out doing an Acid Bath cover, in the shape of “Cheap Vodka”.  It’s cool.

When playing this and Asylum side by side it’s quite noticeable, as well as when I first played this cd, how low Preyed Upon is recorded.  It’s very low.  The production is organic, which I appreciate, however the vocals do get drowned out at times and the production needed to be mixed a bit louder.  One of the main reasons is the guitar sound.  It is awesome sounding, but needs a little more beefiness to it to really knock you out.  I do appreciate that this guitar sound is fleshed out and the best the band has achieved, because I can pick out all the riffs.  The songs are very memorable and not mindless slamming and blasting.  Immortal Suffering have been at their craft for a long time and know how to craft solid and brutal memorable death metal songs.  More bands should take heed to this.  It’s not about being the most tech or brutal folks.  It’s about knowing how to fucking write a memorable song where the listener can remember the song.  I have always found Immortal Suffering to be a band that knows how to craft meaningful and ass-kicking songs.

The album cover is something I would have expected more from a band like The Lurking Corpses, since it reeks of horror metal/punk.  It’s different, which is cool.  The cd booklet contains some photos in the insert.  From start to finish Preyed Upon is pure 90’s nostalgia brutal NY death metal, played the organic and true way.  If you do not buy this album than me and Joe are gonna fit you for a pair of cement shoes and throw you and your family over the moat.  Well done fellas, I’m loving this album.

 

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