Sunday, February 11, 2024
Blast-From-The-Past Pus Vomit, Vulvecomy, Devourment
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Interview with Italian Death Metal legends; Sickening - Allesandro Materassi
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview! I have been a massive fan of the band since ignorance supremacy, and I am so happy to get to ask some questions! Who am I speaking with today? What is your role in the band?
Hi, Alessandro here, I'm the guitarist of the band, and founding member. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about our music, we really appreciate it and we are really pleased you like our music.
It has been 20 years since first promo, is that when the band started? Tell us about how Sickening started!
What first got you into Brutal Death Metal? it must have been a gradual transition to end up here? What sort of music influenced you as a teenager?
I speak for myself, but “tomb of the mutilated” is probably the album that got me into this type of music, from that moment I started to listen to many brutal death metal bands, mainly from the usa, such as suffocation, deeds of flesh, gorgasm and so on.
Of course I started gradually and before that I was into heavy metal and thrash metal, I grew up as a kid with the classics (iron maiden, metallica, slayer) but I soon realized that I really liked a more extreme sound best, and so I started to listen to classic death metal until I found Cannibal Corpse, as I said before.
How has the writing process of "The Death King" been different from previous albums? Everything gone smoothly?
The songwriting of the death king went different for the fact that we don’t have a resident drummer yet, so I wrote all the album by myself ahahah, even the drum parts (except for 2 songs where the drum was written by our old drummer), so it took a little more time to be finished. But I can say I'm really proud of how all the songs came out.
Is the band planning any live shows soon?
Yeah, for sure, the album was released on 2nd of February, and now we are searching for gigs to promote it, and maybe a tour, who knows.
But we have various options that we will reveal in the coming months.
How to you think the current Death Metal scene is different from 20 years ago?
I think nowadays we have more bands but this doesn't mean more quality. 20 years ago every band tried to have its unique sound, while at the present moment it's difficult to find a band with a peculiar sound, and if you think about that you understand why many of the bands who played 20 years ago are still active and well known in the death metal scene today: because of their uniqueness.
I think having a clear style is fundamental in every type of music.
How has it been trying to keep the band active and writing all these years? I'm assuming you all have families? How is the support from your family and friends?
Well, our families always support us in playing music, and beyond that me and Claudio work in the music scene of our city, so is not difficult to keep playing in a band or more and working at the same time. Even Edoardo, our bass player, has a job that allows him to play in various bands. I think we are lucky for this, because otherwise growing up it's always harder to find time to dedicate to writing and playing gigs, with family and work that can keep you busy all the time.
What up and coming Italian bands should we check out?
I will disappoint you but there aren't new good bands I can recommend you in Italy, just the old ones that continue to write good music, the scene is a little boring nowadays.
How do you guys go about writing lyrics?
The last two albums were concept albums so the lyrics are based on the plot of the original two movies. Our second album doesn't have any lyric while the first has generic theme like: death, suicide, hunger, classic death metal cliché ahahah.
Anyway our singer Claudio wrote all of them.
The Seventh Day-
We lose our life with joy This is a chain-letter And it is a message And it is the final word To end a very long struggle When you get this letter We are dead And we want you After you have sent As much copies As possible To the “not-yet-dead” To take your own life Without hesitation According to our realization: I die, therefore I am! Life is an illusion And become ridiculous Meaningless once we face it The one security Life has to offer is death We aim towards him We are promised to him And before there’s just Agony and absurdity Man comes alone And remains alone His life is an endless fight Put upon him A struggle against this Ancient desire The sweetest urge That holds all of us In its hands: Thanatos The longing for death All we demand of you Is to follow this longing It’s about time Life is an anachronism In six days God created heaven and earth On the seventh day He killed himself Let us die The gospel according to The Brotherhood of The Seventh Day
Are you all pleased with how "The Death King" turned out?
Yeah, definitely. We are stoked both by the artwork Armaada Art did and with the sound: we recorded the drums at MK2 Studio of Davide Billia (ex-drummer of Putridity, Hour of penance, Beheaded) and the drums were played by Marco Coghe (Devangelic, Posthuman Abomination) who did a really great work.
We recorded guitar, bass and vocals at our studio), while the mix was done by Jonathan Mazzeo at The Grid Studio and the master was done by Chris Donaldson of Cryptopsy.
The album sounds massive and powerful, is our darkest and fastest album for sure.
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this! Anything else you'd like to say to your fans?
Thanks again for the opportunity, i hope you will enjoy our new album. You can listen to it on our youtube channel and bandcamp page, where you will find all the merch also. We also have a facebook page and instagram where you can follow us for all the latest new and updates.
Stay brutal
Thanks again Alessandro for taking the time to do this! Check out Sickening with the below links!
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Hacked Up - Interview with Andrew Blower
Monday, February 5, 2024
Foul Deformity - Disgust - 2024 - Inspired by a series of horrific real life events.
It was so refreshing to stumble onto this Brutal Death Metal group out of Las Vegas! A three piece who describe their sound as a sonic force with elements from Old School Death Metal, Grindcore, Slamming Brutal Death Metal, Black Metal, Groove, and a hint of Jazz! What a mouthful! After multiple listens, I do think "Disgust" proves them correct!
"Disgust" is only an EP, and is already guaranteed to end up in my best-of-the-year list for 2024. This will be hard to top.
The production on this, first of all, is just perfect. Everything perfectly sitting in its own pocket in the mix. Every instrument it still raw yet feels in your face with its own patterns and intricacies. The vocals are some of my favorite I've ever heard; a blend of styles and techniques that may be hard to pick up on at first, but the subtlety IS master precision. The songwriting throughout is incredible, with many catchy parts and tempo changes. The instruments, vocals included, seem to play off of each other for an amazing onslaught of creative brutality that keeps you guessing.
Alex Udar is in charge of percussion, and goes crazy with so many fills and techniques. He grew up in Romania and started playing drums in 2009. He has banged the drums for Sinful Serpent, Abominable Putridity, Submerged, to name a few.
On Guitar and Bass we have Bruno Macias, playing guitar since 2004 in bands like Guttural Secrete, Cerebral Incubation, and Abominable Putridity. Also must be a fan of a lot of different styles to be writing and playing like this!
Last but not least we have these crazy fucking vocals! Grunts and gurgles and predators all sound amazing on each track! Nick Papageorgio has almost 20 years at working on his craft, and it shows. The delicate enunciation while still keeping it so guttural can be witnessed when following along with the lyrics. Check out lyric video for "(Null) Ubiquitous" below. It features Jeremiah Jensen (Guttural Secrete). I can't tell if the whole track is him or not, but it is still a prime example of the quality of talent on this release.
Sunday, January 28, 2024
Postcoital Ulceration - Continuation of Defective Existence After Multiple Ruinous Collapses - 2014 - Ghastly Music/Amputated Vein
Keeps few survivors inside
They bodies are wounded
Their minds are enslaved
The parasitic effect
Has modified the nerve system
Cannibalism and copulation are the new religion
Flesh of the flesh
Crawling spawns
The new stage of human's evolution
Hyper-active instincts
Helps them to adapt
The new environment
Famine and depravity
Rule the mindless human flock
Monday, January 22, 2024
Desecation - Left To The Trogs - 2024
Desecation first caught my attention for being so young while still pumping out such a mature sounding brutal death EP two years ago with self-titled "Desecation", which I briefly talked about HERE.
Since then, just following them on social media and their youtube presence, it is clear that they are young but taking this very serious and being themselves, not trying to change anything about what they bring to the table. Being original with their sound.
Also, they are surrounded by and playing shows with legends like Cephalotripsy, Disgorge, Vulnificus, Condemned and many more.
When they started to give previews and glimpses of this new album, I was beyond pumped, and now I get to sit down and listen.
Album artwork by legendary Jon Zig"Left To The Trogs" opens with a disturbing sample that I recognized from a long time ago. From a scene that definitely stays with you if you ever saw it. It is from a Kurt Russell movie about 10 years ago, called "Bone Tomahawk." A scene in which a man is help down and scalped and then held upside down and hawked in two. It's just lovely! Check the scene out HERE.
The audio from this scene perfectly sets the tone for the next 20 minutes. An unforgiving onslaught of raw, original BDM with each element of the music getting its proper showcase. Production is clear yet perfectly raw.
Guitars are a delightful mix of fuzzy and crunchy, musicianship is tight and steadily marching to and from heavy slams and catchy riffs. The riffs seem slightly more technical here than on "Desecation". Excited to watch how this young band keeps growing and progressing.
Vocals throughout this album are diverse. Nasty gargling gutturals with the occasional pig squealing and sometimes your basic death growl. Every method done with confidence and a gravely delivery that sounds well-honed. Drummer is crazy, detailed fills with a lot going on under the surface.
I have been paying attention to Desecation since I first found them. A decent amount of live footage is already on youtube and they have that "thing." They just feel like the complete package. Hoping to catch them live soon. Check out a video of the band performing at Angel Ochoa's (Cephalotripsy) Birthday party:
Todd Novoa - Guitars
Marc Novoa - Guitars, Vocals
Alex Sisko - Vocals
Nate Gonzalez - Drums, Vocals
Sam Little - Bass
Friday, January 19, 2024
Celestial Bifurcation - Mephistophelian Dimension - DEMO 2023
Jumping right back into technical BDM with the slams to boot, Celestial Bifurcation is a two-piece out of Washington that is one of the recent signings of New Standard Elite, a record label that is quickly becoming THE home of new up-and-coming brutal slammy death metal.
The band's name roughly translates to being ripped in two in outer space. This is actually a good description of the vibe here. Please give this multiple listens, there is so much nuance and detail that these two dudes bring to the table, and it really excites me for a full-length release.
Not long after this demo, they put out a single through Inherited Production.
"Insufferable Telekinetic Disimpaction" boasts tighter playing from both musicians, a similar production value, and is a 3-minute foreshadowing of technical grooviness to come. Listen below:
Cerebral Incubation - Fermented Cranial Inebriating Fluids - EP 2021
It’s been awhile since Cerebral Incubation blessed us with some self-proclaimed “OG Caveman slam”. While the term always seemed to fit, it is really driven home on this 13 minute, 5 song EP. Complete with a music video that features a caveman-esque bigfoot drinking, dancing, and taking shrooms with the whole band before slaughtering them all and drunkenly stumbling back into the woods.
Cerebral Incubation have always been mixed heaviness, groove, and tight musicianship with a dark humor that fits just right. From the artwork of their projects, the samples in the tracks, the song titles, right down to the font they choose on the covers. It all makes me giggle, while still being incredibly groovy.
The question remains, are they working on more for us?! One can dream......
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
Cerebral Reviewment update
It has been a long while since Cerebral Reviewment has been able to be active in the BDM scene in any form. Upon returning, a lot has changed, some has stayed the same, and overall the scene has grown immensely! I am very excited to be back, and start listening again and see what is happening in the scene.
Please feel free to reach out to send me your favorite releases of the last few years, up and coming stuff, or just say hello! Comment on this post, DM the instagram or facebook, or email CR at
CEREBRALREVIEWMENT@YAHOO.COM
Some upcoming releases that I am already super pumped about include new stuff from Cephalotripsy, Desecation, Defeated Sanity, Liturgy, Brodequin, Sickening (Italy), and I am sure many many more!
-Cerebral Reviewment
Thursday, February 3, 2022
Desecation - Desecation EP 2022
From this young and up-and-coming death metal group we have a stunning 5-song EP that is full of catchy grooves, tempo changes, and viscous slams, all wrapped up in a nice package of bludgeoning, intense, blasting, and addicting death/slam/old school death metal.
Now when I say young, I mean young!
The band is made up of 5 friends growing up together in San Diego and writing and playing shows, going to school, and just having fun!
The ages of the members spans from 14-20 years old! For a group of such young kids to have this kind of sound is what stands out to me! It is a refreshing mix of older Death Metal and the newer breakdowns and slams, but with perfectly raw production!
Todd Novoa - Guitars
Marc Novoa - Guitars, Vocals
Alex Sisko - Vocals
Nate Gonzalez - Drums, Vocals
Sam Little - Bass
Band: Desecation
Album: Desecation Type: EP Released: January 23, 2022 Genre: Brutal Death Metal Country: United States (Diego, California) Tracklist: 01. Psychopathic Impalement 02. Infested With Gelatinous Gangrene 03. Desiccated Christ 04. Gaffed And Dismembered 05. Dripping Bile
I am loving this whole EP, it feels raw and unique and I am impressed with these kids' patience and song writing! Give it a listen! Reminds me of if old Suffocation and Devourment had a baby!
PLEASE go check this band out!
I cannot wait to see what they do next!!!!