PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Everything about this, the third album from 20-year-plus Northern Ireland veterans Putrefy screams ‘old school’ – with a very, VERY loud MUTHAFUCKA on the end of it!
From the orchestral overture leading into the first punishing riff of ‘Wading Through Human Blood’ to the dying embers of the title track (the last track is a re-recording of one from their self-titled 2006 debut album), this is an album which is very much steeped in the tradition of Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Massacre and their ilk. Not that that is a bad thing – in fact, it is very much a positive, as this is an album with no airs or graces about it: just four lads from the outer reaches of the planet we call Mosh doing what they enjoy… and doing it very well!
Eschewing much of the unnecessary technicality that has cluttered the DM genre over the past decade or so, Putrefy very much return to their roots (and that of the genre) with this back-to-basics set of songs: the emphasis is very much on the structure of the tunes, and the brutality of their impact, rather than soullessly showing off their individual musical prowess. That’s not to say that the band lack any of the latter: far from it, as these are seasoned and highly proficient instrumentalists who deliver the goods with a passionate intensity. Drummer Jason McLaughlin drives each of the nine songs forward without resorting to needless OTT blastbeating – just good old-fashioned, fast ‘n’ furious double kicking, while frontman Connor – who recorded the bass parts – holds down the bottom end with understated expertise (while also giving the instrument plenty of room to breathe in its own right).
Twin guitarists Connor and Aaron provide nothing exceptionally innovative in terms of riffs and melodies, and the former’s deep deathgrowls are indeed straight out of the ‘How To DO DM’ playbook, but what they do is tight, efficient and effective: in marketing speak, they ‘tick all the boxes’, and do so extremely well, to make an album which is truly recommended listening for any fan of old school a la the examples quoted earlier.
Track list:
Wading Through Human Blood / The Lament Configuration / Awakening Of The Stillborn / Smashed Down With Iron / Life Deprivation / Bring Out Your Dead / Faces In The Vortex / Knelt Before The Sarcophagus Of Humanity / Pigfucker (2013 version)
Recommended listening: Awakening Of The Stillborn
‘Knelt Before The Sarcophagus Of Humanity’ is released on Sevared Records in October.
