As I stated in my review of 2015s Forensic Nightmares, it would be easy to simply look at Cut Up as Vomitory 2.0, seeing as the band is comprised of 3/4 ex Vomitory members (drummer Tobias “Tobben” Gustafsson, guitarist Anders Bertilsson, and vocalist/bassist Erik Rundqvist),  and you know what? When it’s this solid, that’s perfectly OK.

Still delivering the same style as Vomitory, Cut Up‘s blazing , grooving, grinding, Americanized (thing Divine Empire or Hateplow ) with a hint of Swedeath and Carcass take on death metal still isn’t the fanciest or the most brutal take on the genre, but if offers a beefy, crunchy, simple and effective delivery that dices, slices and chunks with a no nonsense sound that’s completely satisfying.

Starting from “From Ear to Ear” a sing along, Carcass/Exhumed on steroids, catchy bruiser, and ending with “Raped by the Blade”, the album is as direct as it is burly with the 11 song, 38 minute run time hitting both perfect sweet spots. Whether it’s shorter, sharper stabs like “Necrophagic Madness” , “Behead the Dead” (with a nifty solo) , utterly blistering “By Hatred Bound” and aptly named, Cannibal Corpse -ish “Cranium Crusher” or big, menacing, lumbering head snappers like “Vermin Funeral”, the title track,  and “In The Aftermath”, every track hits hard and brings the death metal grimaces all around.

The dual vocals of Erik Rundqvist and Bjorte (the lone none Vomitory member who also serves in Fetus Stench) add to the more prevalent Carcass-y vibe, as does some slightly increased solos, and hack ‘n’ slash catchiness (i.e. “Psychosurgery”, “Master Dissector”, “Raped by the Blade”) from the debut, but still, Wherever They May Rot is pretty well a perfect death metal album and should not be as vastly underrated as Vomitory were.

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