Review Summary: Anal Stabwound is coming for the brutal death metal throne.
Nikhil Talwalkar is a musical prodigy. The kid is barely 20 years old and he has been making some of the most brutal, disturbing death metal in the game since 2018 when he was only 13 years old. Yes, I said 13 years old. It’s not just the age either, it's how damn technically proficient he is. The tightness presented within each riff, the inhuman blasts and fills and the growls straight from the fiery pits of Hell itself are straight out of the Suffocation/Defeated Sanity side of chaotic yet extremely well composed brutal/technical death metal, and by the time he’s done, Anal Stabwound may just be on the level of those bands.
The riffage displayed on
Enshrining the Many-Fingered Grasp is, for lack of a better word, absolutely bonkers. Nikhil is clearly starting to add in some prog noodling into his death metal riff style, but not to the point of cheesiness. They’re super murky yet somewhat polished and glimmering at the same time. I still can’t believe that this kid does all of the drumming himself, it’s maddening in the best way possible. The world may never know how Nikhil can possibly move his hands and feet so briskly and seemingly not even break a sweat. Combining the brutality of the drums with the progressiveness of the riffage makes for one fantastically unstable 26 minute EP.
It’s tough to point out individual tracks on a brutal death metal release. Fans of the genre recognize that it’s not exactly the most varied genre in the world. The sole purpose is to bash the listener’s skulls in with riffs and drums and that’s exactly what happens here. However, if I was to point you in the direction of where to start with this band, I’d tell you to listen to ‘Velvet and Glassy Eyes’ first. It’s the second shortest track here, clocking in at about 3 and a half minutes, but it perfectly encapsulates the essence of brutal death metal.
Anal Stabwound is on its way to being an unstoppable force. Nikhil is putting out material at a very good pace and everything he has done is quality.
Enshrining the Many-Fingered Grasp may not be the absolute best thing he’s done so far, but it is for damn sure the most advanced. More professional sounding production and the added prog elements have me really excited for what Anal Stabwound is going to come up with next!
