After a 13 year wait between albums, Italy’s Antropofagus  dropped their sophomore effort Architecture of Lust in 2012, and it ended up being one of 2012s better death metal records. and while the 5 year wait is a little easier to swallow, the result is the same. Sheer death metal destruction.

As I mentioned in my review of Architecture of Lust, whether it comes to label or something else, when it comes to Italian brutality, the likes of Hour of Penance, Vomit the Soul, Septycal Gorge, Ade, Devangelic, Bloodtruth, Deceptionist, Hideous Divinity, etc get more attention, but that needs to change with M.O.R.T.E – Methods of Resurrection Through Evisceration. It’s on par with anything their country-mates and peers have released and might be even more savage than most of them.

Drummer David Billia (who seems to drum for every notable Italian death metal act) again returns to provide a relentless percussive attack, and it set the tone for everything else. Tya’s blast furnace vocals, put off actaul heat from the CD and the other performers are as competent as anyone else in other of the other bands above. The end result is an absolutely furious album that’s in my opinion is better than Hour of Penance‘s Cast the First Stone, and it’s not even close. And that’s no disrespect to HOP, that’s a good album in it’s own right, But MORTE, literally makes me seethe. It’s more dynamic, brutal, got more low end and less clinical, and when Antropofagus  lock into a slower riff like parts of the the title track (the part at 3:28 is just………wow), “Chants to Abyzou”, or “The Abyss (chapter 1)”, it’s downright unstoppable.

However, plenty of the album does careen by in a vortex of pure violence as tracks like  “Spawn of Chaos”,  “Praise of the Hecatomb!”, “Omnipotent Annihilation” and aptly named “Quintessence of Suffering” (which features a nice melodic lead to boot) are as relentless as they are competent. Even the album ending cover of Malevolent Creation‘s “Living in Fear” is damn vicious.

Almost as utterly relentless as last years release from  equally overlooked label and country mates Blasphemer, this is going to be right up there with Beheaded’s Beast Incarnate as one of 2017 most impressive, ferocious and complete death metal releases and is an utter monster of a record.

[Visit the band's website]

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