I was a big fan of the 2018 debut ep Our Demise, by Voracious Scourge, in 2018.  Originally planned just to release an ep, Jason McIntyre, pursued the thought of wanting to release a full length and here we are.  Mike Smith, from Suffocation fame, again lays down the drums and Aad Kloosterwaard continuing to lay down his brutal vocals, as he does with Sinister, Tony Choy, from Cynic/Pestilence/Atheist fame is new to the fold as he lays down the bass tracks.  Billy Richard, is new to the fold, as the rhythm guitarist and Jason of Suture fame lays out some of the finest guitar riffing of his life.  10 songs in 40 minutes.  It’s really 8 original songs.  “Retribution of the Damned” is the opening intro and the last song is a scorching cover of Death’s classic song “Born Dead”.

After the little intro, “Heaven’s Scorched”, comes eh hem.. scorching through your speakers – sorry I could not resist.  The guitars having a similar flair to Sinister, but a bit more melodic and Mike Smith..man, this album brings back the Effigy of the Forgotten days, with his drum patterns.  Some killer melodic guitar riffing and then right into a monster blast and it’s really feeling like 1991 all over again.  Excellent guitar work and a little spoken word moments with some excellent audible bass work, courtesy of Mr. Choy.  Adrie doing some awesome vocals – if you like his Sinister vocal work then you will enjoy this.  Some monster guitar picking over the blast section at the 2.40 mark and then right into a nifty guitar solo over the blast.  Smith is laying waste with atomic drum rolls and double bass that will certainly collapse chest cavities from here to the Moon.  Some more spoken word moments and this opening song starts to call to mind and sounds similar in style to when Adrie, gave up the drums, in Sinister and took over the mic work, on the Afterburner album – do a side by side of this song and some of the songs off Afterburner.

“Defleshed Messiah” comes right out the starting gates with some pummeling double bass and bass guitar work.  Excellent and I mean excellent guitar work, with the main riff repeating a few times.  Certainly very catchy and sounding very cohesive.  I swear Jason has that certain gumption in crafting these riffs.  Maintaining the brutality, but not once forgetting to add the melody and most importantly well thought out guitar harmonies.  After the brutal slow down check out the rhythm section which starts at the 3.30 mark. The guitar work, drum work, bass and electric guitar work is stellar.  I love this moment.  It’s brutal, catchy and makes me want to start punching holes in walls.

The band even has a band named song.  “Voracious Scourge”, starts like a pummeling tank as the mid-paced crunch will start churning out bones faster than you can say – “I have to run around the corner for a block of cheese”.  Some awesome mid-paced moments, really this song slays and has some intricate guitar work. “Harbinger of Our Own Demise” can be considered an homage to the title of their debut ep-can it not?  It starts full throttle with the monster blasts, mid-paced and old school beats.  The 3.17 beat sounds like vintage Fleshgrind -with the blast structure, therefore I love this part immensely.

Voracious Scourge continues to show they can put together killer music with musicians spread out across the globe and never once having a live practice, together in 1 room.  Music file sharing rules.  If you love old school 90’s death metal brutality, but with enough creativity to still make it modern sounding, than you must pick up In Death.  The production is solid and everything sounds excellent. I love the demonic album cover and In Death, with its high quality of veteran musicians, have put together one of the best true heavy death metal albums for 2020.  I encourage you to like their FB page and pick up their releases.  This is great album.  Buy or Die!!

 

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