Technically, this review is about the Putrisect/Scorched split, Final State of Existence, though personally, I like to refer to it as “the review that almost wasn’t, part 1”. To make a long story short, my laptop decided to shit out on me, barring me from any access to its treasures, i.e. four reviews that were awaiting their final edit before becoming imprisoned by my dastardly Lenovo. Alas, the computer gods did shine upon me (finally!!), as obviously, you are reading this.

Baltimore’s Putrisect chime in first with “Blasphemous Reprisal”, a dark and heavy old school flavored death metal attack that sounds as if Incantation and early Death clashed together in gladiator battle. The song simply has a dirty and evil feel, along with a nice chunky deft in the riffs and tremolo picking. Throw some tasty squeals, bends, and pinch harmonics into its fast paced bludgeoning, and “Blasphemous Reprisal” ends up giving you a really decent beatdown. Slowing things down just a bit , “Final Cleansing” builds with a controlled, yet chaotic vibe to about two minutes in before busting out with some thrashing and blasting old school death metal, then slowing things down again for evil’s sake, before closing out the track with a half decent lead/solo.

“Astral Martyrdom”would be the highlight from Putrisect‘s contribution to this split. Beginning with propelling drums and a catchy melody, reminiscent of late ’80’s Death, or even Entombed, the track is an uptempo rager. Nice blasting abounds and some decent lead guitar work can be found on this track also, though the vocals tend to step on the solo some, which is a shame, as it shows some diversity in the mix. I definitely feel that the solo work leading to the end of the song could have been longer and used to better affect.

Overall, Putrisect play a real promising and enjoyable form of mostly, old school American death metal. The vocals can get a bit one dimensional after awhile, but the material has enough changes and tempo shifts to keep it from becoming dull, though they need “more” in the soloing department.

Scorched offer up only two actual songs on Final State of Existence, as “Impending Demise” is simply a weird, yet creepy intro leading into “Lust for Strangulation”. Right from the get go, you can tell that this Delaware based band drink from a different side of the old school death metal river than Putrisect. Immediately, a little cleaner, more fluid, and melodic even. The beginnings of “Lust for Strangulation” bring to mind a Nile-esque feel, a`la Amongst the Catacombs era before morphing into late ’90’s Morbid Angel fluctuations, and a more straight forward death metal attack, akin to a Blood Red Throne type of thrashing, wrapped in a blanket of Incantation. Definitely old school flavored and definitely good stuff; even if you have heard it before under a different moniker.

“Visceral Ascension” wraps up Scorched‘s contributions, as well as the split release itself, and does so in fine form. Wearing their influences a little less on this track, “Visceral Ascension” starts with a heavy and ominous feel in the guitar work before throwing it into high gear with some more U.S. old school. Heavy riffs, roaring, cavernous bellows, and some good, solid lead work spearhead a short Fetid Zombie/Crypticus rocking out vibe before ripping back into a fitting solo run to close out the song.

All in all, both Putrisect and Scorched compliment each other rather well, with just enough similarities in the evil and dirty department that gives Final State of Existence a little more cohesiveness or solidity, if you will, that many split releases  are lacking. If I was forced to pick a favorite of the two bands, I would go with Scorched, but as it stands, both Scorched and Putrisect have piqued my interests enough to look out for future material from both death dealers.  

 

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