ALBUM REVIEW: Eternal Rot – Moribound

ETERNAL ROT are back with their 3rd album of doom-ridden Death Metal putridity. Out via Memento Mori and Godz Ov War Productions on July 24th.

Booming drums and cymbals bring the release in with a tasteful pounding before monstrous riffs and mangled vocals drudge their slimy tendrils across the percussive performance. Rottenness immediately spews forth from the entire mix with that crawling deformity that Eternal Rot have shaped their sound around. Decaying guttural stomps flow forth with a graven groove that is impossible not to bang ones skull to. Having followed this band for quite a few years, their ability to primitively deliver such intoxicatingly heavy bludgeoning has only improved with age. The blend of raw visceral violence and funereal gloom meets in the middle to convey utter dread and morbidity to grandiose effect while keeping things relatively simple. This is pure old school Death Metal done properly.

Cavernous atmospherics develop further as we descent the abyssal realms of “Moribound”, being dragged towards its charnel core. With a truly devastating momentum to the bewitching brutality, the trio experiment with these weird little breaks to allow the monolithic tension to build while keeping things festering at all times. Largely thanks to the grimy tones and absolutely unhinged vocals, there is never a dull moment even when things are reduced to ichorous slime. Never fear, an onslaught of obliteration is never far away as pulverising instrumentation is something the band have developed triumphantly over their existence.

Although largely following this trance-inducing tempest of slower tempos, there is more than enough grit and groove to keep things interesting for the 35 minute running time. Sludgy hooks hit like a sledgehammer or more visceral attacks will lacerate you from nowhere while everything stays pretty coherent. Sometimes simplicity is key and here it is used to a magnificent outcome with enough twists to not become predictable either. Those occasionally rocky moments mixed in really add a catchy flare to the record while never losing any of the heaviness that the band have worked so hard to craft, in fact these dynamics make the ferocity of the album even more pronounced. Churning cryptic extremity forth until the very end, this bone-shattering concoction of death does not relent in the slightest. I, for one, am grateful.

Another extremely strong slab of corporeal punishment from Eternal Rot. Smell the sepulchral stench and traverse the tombs, album three is an absolutely glorious offering of only the most macabre soundscapes this band has to offer. Doomed Death Metal reigns supreme.