I reviewed Phoenix’s Necrambulant debut album, Infernal Infectious Necro-Ambulatory Pandemic, on Lacerated Enemy Records in 2013. I reviewed that album for allabouttherock.uk and went on how much I loved their brutal slam death metal style. They reminded me of Cephalotripsy and still do. Sludgy slam with clogged sewer pipe vocals. After the debut album, they disbanded only to come back in 2022 with this grand little EP of 6 new slam filled trudgery.

Ron Clark returns on guitar and bass and Andy “Bonemeat” York returns. Rather than drums Andy sings on this and Matt Riena is their new drummer. Opening with “Propensity for Cannibalistic Pleasure” the noticeable sludgy guitar is back and with more intelligible vocals. Vocals are guttural but not the clogged pipe as much. The one-minute mark with the start n stop slam groove will have erupting pit’s worldwide. The 2.29 slam part is great. I love the bass guitar plucking. Not quite, but it does remind me of Parasitic Ejaculation and how they incorporate the bass guitar as fairly prominent in the mix. This opener is great.

“Necromorphic Genesis of Celestial Horror” is killer and has a Repudiation style to the beginning, especially with the riff. This riff is catchy AF and then right into the blast. Now I know certain fellow reviewers I write with and others who are not fans of the Visceral Throne or Sanguisugabogg snare sounds. That high popping sound – so since that snare sound is on here when the band bursts into blasts it might grate on your nerves. Makes no difference to me. I realize super sludgy and heavier bands will incorporate this drum snare sound because that extra pop cuts through the heaviness. If the snare had a deep bassier sound it could potentially get buried in the mix and yes this ep is heavy as a muthafucka! At under three minutes, this song is just intent on brutalizing your body into small charcuterie meat slices.

The tongue and cheek “Necro-Ambulatory Slamdemic” is a great song title. The sludgy slam incorporates many pinch harmonics across the board and there are gravity blasts on this. The gravity blasts are not the tightest on this ep and are rather loose and sloppy in some places. Regardless; the blast at the 3.14 part goes on for 10 seconds and right into the proverbial Holy Shit moment with an isolated growl and sonic BOOM—— right into a truly devastating slam. This part is my favorite moment on this release. There are many pinch harmonics across this slam moment to feast on. I literally took a 1,000 pound weight and curled it 1,001 times. I was so pumped. At four minutes this is the longest and best song in the ep.

The rest of the songs on Necrambulant’s comeback release, A Feast of Festering Flesh, are excellent slam filled sludge. The production is good. I mentioned the drums are a bit loose in places and the snare sound may not be your cup of tea. The ep cover is also gruesome and nasty. However; if you’re looking for slam-filled  sludge in the vein of Sanguisugabogg, Cephalotripsy and all the Russian slam bands combined get this ep. It’s fun, heavy and slamming. Brutal shit!!

[Visit the band's website]

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