My only prior experience with this Aussie trio – now a four-piece – was a few tracks (in all honesty, I probably only made it through one) from their 2010 ear grater, Devil’s Poison, that I remember sounding like a drunken early Venom rehearsal. I guess that was the point, but it was lost on me at the time. So, it was out of sheer morbid curiosity that I even bothered to give their latest effort a listen. Either they greatly improved or I wasn’t mentally prepared for such aural violation last time (probably a little of both) because I’m absolutely loving their vicious brand of raw proto-death this time around.

Originally released in Europe late last year through Invictus Productions, but only recently unleashed stateside by the very appropriate and capable hands of Hells Headbangers, The Escalation – the band’s third full-length – sees the addition of Portal guitarist, Horror Illogium. However, don’t expect any of his main band’s eccentricity here. He is credited alongside Death Dealer on two of the tracks (“Hellburst to Fight” and “Metal or Die”), but this is still entirely the band leader’s primitive vision that comes off like Hellhammer, early Sodom, some Morbid Angel demos, and a healthy helping of piss and vinegar mixed in a rusty blender. The coarse vocals barely break through the maelstrom, making it impossible to follow the lyrics even with the liner notes (lovingly hand-drawn by Death Dealer), but you’ll be too busy headbanging to care anyway. You might want to condition your neck for the Celtic Frost-ed grooves that surface in tracks like “Pits of Nightmare / Pitch Black” and “Hellburst to Fight,” and practice your air guitar for the NWOBHM riffs that pop up from time to time. Keeping up with the solos will be a challenge, though, as they’re more like explosions of pent-up rage than anything musical.

You likely won’t find a recent death metal album that sounds more authentic and old-school than this. It’s relatively brief with only 7 tracks clocking in at just a hair over 30 minutes, but this style works best when it’s short and to the point. I think this verse from “Metal or Die” best sums up the band’s aim: “We were born for it and we’ll be there ‘til death. Play it loud and proud. Drink to it with my friends. Whiskey, metal, leather, and sex. Traditions upheld all these years and the next. When we die, we’ll go with our boots and our vests ‘cause metal still reigns and fuck off to the rest.” Point well taken.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments