ALBUM REVIEW: Sněť – Mokvání V Okovech

Czech Death Metallers Sněť have their debut album of rotten music set for release via Blood Harvest Records, Headsplit Records and Lycanthropic Chants on May 14th.

Ominous samples start the album off with that familiar sense of horror, warped and yet simple, we know something heavy lies ahead. Feedback breaks through the synths before vomitous guitars and primitive drums erupt upon the mix with a spew of slowly tremolo picked riffs that creep and crawl effortlessly through the beats, conjuring a sense of lurking dread in true old school fashion. Blundering forth, the primal yet effective music is ludicrously heavy but equally eerie in the sombre flow of melancholic leads topping chunky riffs that are devastated by pulverising blastbeats as the meaty guitars also cascade such putrid sounds to match. As well as the malignant instrumental side, we see some low guttural vocals accentuate the grotesqueries on display with a snarled ferocity that is no less brutal than the riffs and drums underlining them. The manner in which the slow dragging riffs barge through the blasting frenzies is incredibly powerful, giving that Autopsy-style intensity to the sound which isn’t reliant on speed, nor fearful of it. The dynamics on show here are crushing.

The punishing purulence does not relent, rather we see a monstrous swing of vile Death Metal that lurks beneath the crypts, cracking tombstones with its sheer heaviness and mighty riffs. The drums maintain a rather simplistic core but excellent cymbal use gives them some panache while the rot of the guitar and bass seeps so naturally across these rhythmic barbarities alongside the malicious depravity of the vocals, giving us some real nastiness across the board. The mix is surprisingly clean which ironically allows the swampy murk of the band to be heard quite easily, while showing the talents behind the onslaught are not lacking. The rhythmic battery from the high-speed assaults to doomy drawls are tied together with these mid-tempo grave-grooves that if you dig the likes of Undergang with certainly have your zombified skull banging your brains to mush. A primal, riveting and merciless 30 minutes of pure Death Metal brilliance.

Delve into the crypts on this monolith of malice that is punishing, doomy and cavernous in equal measure, giving a complete and unrelenting assault that is majestically disgusting in every conceivable sense. Pure visceral carnage.