There’s not a single original note on the debut from the Ukraine’s Acephala, but what they do deliver is a solid slab of slamming Eastern European brutal death metal that should fit right in with the likes of label mates Katalepsy, Murder Intentions and of course, Devourment.

With twelve bludgeoning songs (as well as an outro and an intro) that all hover around 2-3 minutes or so, Acephala aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel but rather run you over with it. The brutal slam fest that has a bit of old school, double bass tinged rumble mixed with standard blast beats and über deep vocals. It’s not too blasty, not overly technical and not a simple mid-paced romp — but a nice simple, bottom heavy balance that brings the grooves in spades, similar to many of the chunky Danish of Belgian bands but with a little more death metal ickiness.

The only real issue is the song titles and themes which cull from the 7th grade school of death metal: “Borned in Fraternal Grave”, “Castration”, “Faggot on Pitchfork”, “Vaginal Fat Putridity”, “Satan’s Asshole”, and “Syphilis in Own Juice” also highlight the fact that the band doesn’t yet have a full grasp of the English language. Still, the likes of “Borned in Fraternal Grave”, “Frozen, Devastated, Dead” and  “Silencer” have plenty of enjoyable slams and a burly beefy production highlighting all the bands simple grooves and no nonsense blasts.

Amid Soul Flesh Collector Records slew of releases over the last few months (Outcast, Murder Intentions Prejudice), the Sickening Horror and Scrambled Defuncts releases are the ones that stand out, but Division By Zero trails not too far behind.

[Visit the band's website]

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