What do you get when two powerhouse Death Metal legends come together? A fucking blistering Death Metal album that would make the nineties blush. Marc Grewe (ex- Morgoth, Insidious Disease) and Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Revolting, Ribspreader) have joined together to create Leper Colony, a healthy slab of chest-bursting brutality that has… melody and manages to display a grim beauty that is unexpected yet welcome.

“The Human Paradox” burns with the spirit of Leprosy era Death from the opening scream, and with a mid-paced baseball bat to the face hits a Death/Thrash pace in the middle of the track with the first of many mammoth riffs and solos, which is really the meat and potatoes of the entire album. Riffs, riffs and more riffs… after the initial bruising, it starts kicking you in the genitalia with “Perdition’s End” and “The Surgical Undeadvors” two blistering tracks that are reminiscent of Grewe’s Morgoth and their Cursed album.

“Tar and Feathers” has a sweet breakdown at the three-minute mark right before it ends thrashing away. But it’s the title track that steals the entire show, a severe ripper that encompasses the melody and grim beauty I was talking about, with a solo that is amazing to hear. “Flesh Crawl Demise” is what Slayer would sound like if they played Death Metal, it’s a blistering attack before the final headshot “Gruesome End”. This isn’t a long album; the songs live in the neighborhood of three to four and a half minutes and the stellar production means that the guitars have a razor-sharp delivery, and everything falls into place from there. All killer, no filler!

Like I’ve said before, this year just keeps pumping out quality slime-encrusted Death Metal. Writhing, Sedimentum, and others have made this year a very brutal one, indeed. Thusly, for fans of the picks section of this review are easy ones; Morgoth, Dismember and Death, those three bands should give you an indication of the caliber of musicianship on display here. Recommended for sure!

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