This Italian death metal band, Shrieking Demons, has come up with an album cover that is insanely awesome and it’s the first thing that drew me to this debut album, The Festering Dwellers.  They released an EP in 2021, Diabolical Regurgitations, which was ok, however, this debut album is a lot of fun.

10 songs in 39 minutes, things get going with the album opener – “Devour My Wicked Soul”.  Slowly building up with the atmosphere, and soft instrumentation, and at a little past the minute marker, the death metal hits, and I am initially feeling Autopsy vibes.  The song gallops to an old-school beat and Gabri, has a very Chris Reifert type of tone, so there you go Autopsy reference complete.  The song has a late 80s or early 90s feel to it with an excellent organic production, which resonates with me.  There are some nice guitar harmonies around the middle marker of this song and the combo of guitarists Valentina and Giorgio do quite a nice job, especially at the doomy death crawl towards the end and Giorgio letting loose with some very cool guitar solos.

Nino’s bass can be heard and David knows how to keep a steady beat, especially when “Abstract Hallucinating” erupts just as the album opener ends.  I love the beginning gallops and the guitar solos, before the vintage Autopsy-styled doom-death crawl approaches.When I refer to Autopsy I am strictly referring to their first 4 albums and ep’s during that time period.  This song lumbers and cascades into depressive oblivion.  The shrieking vocals…well go along quite nicely with the band name!

“Nefarious, Scorned Deities I Am Devoted To” get a gold star from me because I love using the word, nefarious!!  The song starts with some faster-paced music with a nice little blast beat, and then the song gets into the comfortable death metal old-school gallop the band enjoys playing.  There are some nice weird guitar solos, as well, which screech along the way, and if you love death metal from let’s say 1988-1991, like Autopsy, Death.. etc.. you will truly enjoy this album, fun is the name of the game!!

“Perennial Dirge”  starts with an amazing beat, a tad slower than the other gallops, and this is so headbang worthy of your time.  This song must be played live since I can envision a monster circle pit erupting all over the place and demons shrieking, so that the pit continues forever and people collapse, from pitting onto eternity.  The slow mid-paced moment brings forth some vintage Celtic Frost guitar tones, especially how Tom Warrior would bend those guitar chords and notes to get a very distinct tone, all Celtic Frost!!  Definitely feel a Morbid Tales vibe on this one.

The Festering Dwellers is a damn fine debut album by Shrieking Demons.  It’s organic, with a natural-sounding production, and an excellent and eye-catching album cover.  Now is this the most original death metal album you will hear? – of course not.  The band draws from a variety of influences, however, has managed to write, play, and release a fun death metal album.  Check ‘em out.

 

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments