ALBUM REVIEW: Mutation – Esoteric Order of Debauchery

Following their 2023 demo, Stockholm raw death metal barbarians Mutation are back to present their debut full length album. Out via Hells Headbangers on the 9th of October.

An eerie introduction sets the mood for the record with classic horror vibes and shredding guitars, total 80s mania. Giving way to total death, we soon drown in a tidal wave of wild riffing, vocal lunacy, ruthless bass lines and drumming hostility. Blending the Swedish titans such as Merciless, Grotesque and Morbid with the US giants such as Morbid Angel, Incubus and Necrovore, Mutation have a timelessly unrelenting death metal onslaught with a raw production that is designed to send wimps running. Those grave-lurkers who find this sort of necrophiliac ensemble tasteful will certainly revel in the mean-spirited splendour of the record as its earliest moments show a band whose intent is sadistic and their barbarism absolute. A strong start for the Swedes.

Combining the unrelenting death metal with tinges of black and thrash, this is one of those releases that feels like those key early cuts from when before each extreme metal subgenre was not clearly defined, instead bleeding together into some convergence of morbidity. For me, those were many of the best bands we have ever had. Mutation manage to balance an unruly spirit and mercilessly extreme songwriting with a tight finesse that allows that to sound very live while not feeling sloppy at all. The way the riffs, drums and vocals are always maddening but tied together by those stabbing bass guitar tones is utterly killer. Along with the obvious death metal influences we hear plenty of Slayer, Protector, Morbid Saint and Dark Angel (maybe an influence on the new logo too). This LP is absolutely metal to the bone!

There is not much more to say than this is the definition of nasty, mean, cruel and wicked death metal that takes no prisoners with its morbid onslaught of total malevolence. Spawned from Sweden or the pits of hell, they bring demonic fury into your cranium with the utmost skill and aggression. Even when they slow things down they feel as unholy as ever, although these moments never allow you to relax as a maelstrom of volcanic hellfire is never far away. Some of the more off-kilter sections remind me of Repugnant, a band that embodies death metal never dying. Everything about Mutation reeks of the sepulchral rot you would encounter cracking open a coffin in the most putrescent catacombs. Stick this record on, your bloated corpse won’t be able to resist banging its head to the esoteric order of debauchery…

In an ever more artificial world, the primitive and violent metal of old is more appealing than ever. Mutation honour these roots triumphantly in ecstatic bloodshed. The vision of this band is clear; a raw and unapologetically lethal ceremony of destruction and carnage. If you miss death metal that pushed the needle into the red, pushed whammy bars into the body of the guitar and derails your sanity, then Mutation’s new opus is exactly what you need.