A new Witch Vomit offering is almost a holiday ‘round these parts. It wasn’t a question of IF it would be covered, but more of a question of who would be; Myself or Steve K. Surprisingly, he put up no fight. I’m glad for once we didn’t come to blows (not that kind you dirty fucks). So, it is left to me to cover their new “full length,” which is barely over 30 minutes.

The first track after the intro is a churner. It’s short at around 3 minutes, but that old school, bruising riff, along with the lead behind it about halfway should get your blood pumping (what was it I said about blows). This is right in my new wave of old-school death metal wheelhouse. This track constantly moves and doesn’t seem like it’s more than a minute.

The next one, “Blood of Abomination,” gives me serious Skeletonwitch vibes with that ripping solo at the beginning (I miss you, Skeletonwitch). With “Abomination” in the title, that almost seems intentional. It’s short, which adds to that vibe even more, but those almost clean, thrashy guitars, and the cavernous vocals make me feel like I’m back in Athens, OH watching them play The Union.

“Serpentine Shadow,” the next one, is over 5 minutes, so not far from the length of the last two combined. This one goes more in that Tomb Mold direction, but certainly not like their most recent. The churning riff goes HARD and is sure to induce some pit whiplash. Almost 4 minutes in, I wanted a breakdown so bad. I could taste it, I could feeeeeeel it. ‘Twas not to be. At least not in the usual sense.

How many tracks do I have to mention for you to just buy this? Fine, here’s a couple more.

There’s this minute-long banger called “Endarkened Spirits,” which is not a grindcore track. While that would not have been out of place overall, I’m glad they stuck to the death. It leads perfectly into “Abject Silence,” which is a strong interlude, including some barely audible synths.

God damn, I’m on the last track already? “Funeral Sanctum” is the closer and it’s crushing. The down-picked riff, followed by blast beat sections is brilliant. Then, of course, a killer riff appears briefly before an equally taut solo. This track is 4 minutes long and is over quickly. The furious ending is fitting.

Just as in Trumpy’s stolen classified documents case (along with the seemingly hundreds of others), I bet you’d enjoy a verdict. This one hopefully won’t end in jail time (hate me if you like, but anybody else would be rotting in jail already).

Politics aside, this new Witch Vomit, out on perhaps the best current label, 20 Buck Spin, is a killer. I never expected a 30-minute album to be a grower, but once it hits, I can listen to it on repeat all day (and have). These songs are played with an urgent energy which is unfortunately strongly lacking in a lot of metal these days. The production is crisp while being dirty, and it’s perfect for this type of death metal.

I’m impressed and let’s be honest, I kind of knew I would be. Get this sumbitch in your earholes. Give that artwork long sleeve to meeeeeee, 20 Buck Spin!

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