Review Summary: So beefy you could sink your teeth into it
As varied as my musical taste has become, I cannot deny that my fallback genre for when I am not sure what to listen to is death metal. I was indoctrinated into the ways of Suffocation and Dying Fetus by a heavily dogmatic group of “friends” in high school, and as toxic and narrow-minded as that became, it has undoubtedly influenced my frequent listening habits. I feel at home when being assaulted by filthy, furious, brutal death metal. Needless to say, then, listening to Visceral Disgorge’s latest release, Slithering Evisceration, was essentially like slipping on my favourite pyjamas and consuming some calorie dense comfort food.
Coming in at just over 30 minutes, Slithering Evisceration is probably the briefest release I have listened to in recent months, but it is also one of the beefiest. Aside from the rather redundant opener (imaginatively titled, “Slithering Evisceration – Intro”), Visceral Disgorge trimmed the fat of these slabs of meat, leaving only thick, juicy offerings to sink your teeth into. Slithering Evisceration wastes no time in establishing its intent: both the guitar and drum work are frantic and committed to assaulting your senses. The slam sections do a good job in breaking up the tracks, and never overstay their welcome.
Production is average; the album sounded good in headphones, but lost a lot of the depth of the songs in the car on the drive home. The snare was initially a bit bothersome due to its dingy club "live" sound, but becomes less noticeable amongst the blast beats and fills. The vocals are a bit wispy and lack real body, but they are absorbed into the mix to allow the guitar and drum work to take centre stage. These complaints may be brushed away by the excuse that, “it’s brutal death metal, it’s meant to sound like that,” but with bands like the aforementioned Dying Fetus, Whoretopsy, and Pathology releasing ruthless material and still managing decent production value, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect it.
Despite some of these production deficiencies, there is still a lot to like here. There’s a highly infectious groove carried in songs like, “Saprogenic Deformation,” “Siphoning Cosmit Sentience,” and the mix of slams with furious riffage in “Spawn of Putridity,” was a particular highlight.
Slithering Evisceration is a pummelling, filth-laden experience, akin to a wheelie bin gaining sentience and rampaging the streets in a garbage-related killing spree. Any self-respecting death metal fan should spin this short but visceral (sorry) experience at least once.
