ALBUM REVIEW: Eternal Rot – Cadaverine

Here is the first of two Godz Ov War Productions releases, this one being some Death-Doom in the form of the debut full length album from Eternal Rot! Release date set for the 17th September! I have been really into Death-Doom a lot recently, so this should be a pleasure to review!

1. Undying Desolation draws the album in with atmospheric sampling and tribalistic drum beats, a cool way to start a short but hopefully killer Death-Doom Metal album. The drudging bass guitar cuts through like a chainsaw, there is a really awesome eerie feel to it and the demonically grunted vocals sound killer. The full mix is incredibly doomy and heavy and has a really awesome feel to it, not so much like Druid Lord or Hooded Menace but more droning and catatonic. The menacingly heavy instrumentals topped with chants and growls sounds really intense and morbid. There are some pretty drudging slam elements to it that coupled with groovy riffs work really nicely to draw the song out into an intense assault. Their are incredibly well written old school Death Metal riffs but brought down into a slower Doom Metal tempo and they really seem to crawl very nicely. The 7 minute dismal march is a really intricate yet primitive grind along that sounds phenomenal. Great beginning piece!
2. In Their Decaying Eyes follows up with some delay soaked and ambient noises that really are haunting. The drum fills and killer riffs soon rejoin us once more drawing in the thick atmosphere the first song birthed. The hammering attack is filthy and certainly something that will appeal to Death Metal and Doom Metal fans alike with its dragging and slow dynamics but guttural vocals and intense brutal riffs. The music is really hypnotic partially due to plentiful repetition being used but not to the point anything becomes stagnant or dull to hear. I am getting an Eye Of Solitude vibe from this track which is really cool, I always found that band stood out a mile with their unique sound. This band do something totally new with it, but there is definitely similarity. A really enjoyable and ear decimating piece of epic Death-Doom with a really intensely crushing breakdown of sorts!
3. Putrid Hallucination follows the trend of opening with strange sounds but then drops into really groovy and punchy riffing and blasting drums. The much more Death Metal feel of this is balanced nicely by the quietly drawn out guitar leads and the more hardcore rhythm of the song adds an interesting and enjoyable contradiction to the album. The chugging assault of the song is very consistent and full on but really cool. The track seeming to really drag away nicely with a more primal and violent feel to it than the first two. The more doomy elements seemed to have subsided somewhat but the song takes a more groovy and typically Death Metal approach, it’s really awesome though and a nice change in the style of music, I am curious how this will lead into the fourth and final track.
4. Slough Of Despond uses a much shorter sample, killer bass lines and drumming to really bring the song in beautifully. This is my favourite introduction yet, let’s hope the song follows suit. The gruesome guitars join with perfectly punctuated notes and seem to come in very organically. The mesmerising soundscape is really intense yet simplistic and really captivating, the more upbeat tremolo picked riffs and blasts follow suit and have a really enticing and pleasant sound to them. Some absolutely killer songwriting and musicianship here, great work! The hateful vocals soon join the mix and are somewhat buried in the instrumentals but still sound pretty harsh and cool. They almost work more as an additional instrument really boosting the low and mid sections of the mix due to the vocalists absolute upheaval of his guts with the bellowed and brutal growls. The contrast of a slow burn pace mixed with pretty joyful riffs creates a very unique sound within the confines of incredibly great Death-Doom Metal! A killer closing piece, awesome!

Right here we have some gorgeously dismal music, with crushing Doom Metal dragging and brutal Death Metal attacks balanced gloriously to create something very intense and heavy. Great debut full length album with some really convincing drum programming, killer riffs and gruesome vocals! -8/10