ALBUM REVIEW: Outre-Tombe – Nécrovortex

Here I review the new 2nd album from Outre-Tombe, Horror themed Death Metal from Canada that will be unleashed on the 17th October with Temple Of Misery Records!

1. La Crypte opens with ambient and creepy samples, setting the horror theme very nicely while keeping the suspense intact. The maliciously dismal guitar and drums join us with a really gruesome Death Metal vibe that starts as it means to go on, with melody and strength. This is some intensely heavy and violent music with an epic old school vibe. The huge sounds are full of darkness and brooding contempt that really grows throughout the precision and gore driven piece of ferocious Metal mania. An excellent opening song that promise a hopefully fantastic album! The guitar solo is perfectly matched to the old school vibe with some nice shreds really piercings through the dirty, driven mix. Gorgeously disgusting Death Metal glory!
2. Désintégration continues from the last track with ferocity fuelled attack, some flamboyant lead work and a really punchy kick to the drums. There is an upbeat, really head banging pace to the track that really has some nice bite to it. The morbid grinding guitar and bass suits the incredibly blasting drums and raw, gnarly vocals to perfection. There is a bleak dissonance to the track giving it an uncomfortable feel but taking nothing away from the monstrous momentum. The bass really comes through the walls of guitar attack nicely giving some more attack even when the frenzied and awesome leads come in. This is some more excellent, no holds barred crypt infesting Metal!
3. Aberration begins with some menacingly discordant riffing and killer bass work. The convulsive pace really works nicely with the horrific sounds the band try (and succeed) in creating. The doomy vibe to some of the riffs adds a lovely macabre feel to the music and is a great way to mix things up before blasting and storming into more vigorous assaults. This is another fine example of how the classic Death Metal formula has survived song long and listening to this epic piece is a good reason as to why it has never died out. This song has some more blackened tinges in part adding some darkness but nothing obnoxious or overbearing on the general groovy swing of the piece. Fine work! 4. Concile Cadavérique thrashes into fruition with fast paced tremolo riffs, an epic grunt from the vocalist and extremely intense drumming. The full on attack of the band seems unrelenting, some really incredible songwriting gives this music such a beautiful morbidity to it. The malignant crawl of the song is a perfect example of how the vibes in Death Metal sound at their best, to me this is a classic example. They perfectly utilise Doom Metal elements in the bridges, this technique really allows atmosphere and tension to build up and grow gorgeously. Some really intelligently written music here. The guitar solo was some nice whammy bar and shred attack that adds a nice flourish to the piece.
5. Écorché Vif comes in with renewed strength and a really bombastic attack to the song.  The dismal grinding faster pace sections are carefully woven with the slower tempo parts creating a really epic build and intensity comparable to that of the early 90s sound. There is so much furious passion from the whole band that is instantly recognisable and a great thing. The guitar solo is more melodic on this track but just as in your face as ever. The whole song has a really nice Gorguts vibe to it that I really enjoyed. The vocals sound so hellishly tormented too, a lovely touch!
6. Hécatombe II starts off with some gorgeously doomy riffs that are really sludgy and drag nicely. Met with well paced drums, bass and soaring leads this creates a dark atmosphere at a slower pace, a very nice, diverse addition to the albums sounds. The song breaks into dissonance about halfway through really dragging out some nasty, awesome sounds. The storming instrumentals really do a great job at creating an interval in this epically intense album, allowing the atmosphere and suspense to grow and not become stagnated by taking to time to breathe.
7. Nécrovortex comes back to chugging tremolos and a dirty aggression, once more. The familiar and comforting groove of the songs has remained consistent throughout. The dismally crafted Death Metal is made with some slower yet equally gratifying musicianship that follows the prior track/interval nicely. The marching storm of the song soon picks up into furious assault of the listener with abrupt growls, hasty guitar and bass grooves and punchy drumming. This song is pretty damn catchy in the chorus sections and makes for a great piece of classic and anthemic Extreme Metal. Fantastically gruesome and bleak! The bass on this track once more really shines through the insane guitar really nicely, it is great to hear nothing being buried or forgotten in the mix, especially as things lead up to a killer solo!
8. Rongé Par Les Miasmes blasts into fruition, really catching me off guard with some incredibly heavy, yet tight, brutality. The stampeding riffs and blast beats just create such a heavy and tense attack that works beautifully with the bands style. I once again am thinking how tightly and carefully strung together this brilliant album is, each song is masterful on its own but they also flow together perfectly and smoothly. The guitar solo is gorgeously melodic and soulful while keeping in touch with the punky groove of the song that is really catchy itself. Another absolutely killer piece of furious and morbid Metal! This track really belts out some strong aggression!
9. Vengeance Spectrale comes in with tight, slightly more technical riffing that is equally catchy, digestible and just damn great. There is nothing in this music that, to me, isn’t easily loveable. It all just feels so natural and relevant regardless of choosing to stick with an older formula. There has definitely been growth throughout the album in some punk vibes that in turn has added a growth in the punch of this rawly gut wrenching Death Metal. The tremolo riffs have such a nice groove to them that for me is what makes this song another insanely good one. Plus, the guitar solo had a really fun 80s feeling to it.
10. L’Enfer Des Tranchées begins the closing song with some really nice crunchy guitar and bass, simplistically great drums and just such an awesomely grotesque vibe to it. The rhythmic groove of the song is absolutely perfect from the off mixing some double kick bass with some epic riff work on both guitar and bass. The song soon drops into a storming, frenzied and chaotic assault, which to me is clearly a great attempt at bringing one last raw bout of violence to the listener before the album ends. This is yet again another really strong piece that I thoroughly enjoyed. The album has been densely full of high intensity, top quality Death Metal. All killer, no filler!

Joining fellow Canadian old school Death Metallers Tomb Mold this has a really nasty feel to it but is also very precise and well thought out, paced beautifully and some excellent soundscapes created. Epic work, this album was worth the wait since the debut! Another epic addition to the growing old school Death Metal scene that certainly should not be overlooked! -8.5/10