It has been a long time since I’ve reviewed a full blown death metal album. It’s not that I’ve been avoiding the genre, but rather there haven’t been that many noteworthy death metal releases as of late. Now I know one of you is gonna comment, “BUT JOE *insert Maggot Stomp band here* DROPPED ONE OF THE HOTTEST RELEASES OF THE YEAR!” or something along those lines. Truth is, I could care less, and it’s gonna take more than a bunch of hardcore kids trying their hand at death metal to catch my attention, but I’ve made that abundantly clear for some time now.
On the other hand, you know what does catch my attention? Autopsy worship. I know that’s hypocritical because I’m the first to call out Entombed, Bolt Thrower, and Mortician worshippers. The difference is Autopsy is my favorite death metal band of all time, and until they get back in the studio to record another offering of gory, blistered, pus riddled death metal, I have no problem with new bands who can execute the sound and execute it well. One such band is Disfuneral. From the looks of their logo and the album art of their debut full length, Blood Red Tentacle, one would be fooled into think they’re another chip off the old Entombed/Dismember block. You’d be wrong.
Aside from the occasional HM-2 drenched sharpness of the guitars, Blood Red Tentacle is a festering love letter to Autopsy’s Severed Survival and Mental Funeral. Some songs lean towards the raging death/thrash of the former (“Maim, Kill, Burn”, “Funeral Maze”). Others emphasize the painfully crushing death/doom of Mental Funeral (“Devourer of Light”, “Dead”). And then you’ve got cuts like “Feastering the Undead” and “Eternal” that combine both approaches in one song. What all of these compositions have in common is that they owe everything to Chris Reifert and his band of mutants.
There’s even moments of punkish rage reminiscent of Autopsy’s Shitfun era and subsequent Abscess project, especially on the short and anything but sweet “Dissolved” and “Lord of Discord”: unrelenting blasts of d-beats, filthy riffs, and rebellious spirit. The likes of Discharge and GBH would be proud to see their legacies regurgitated in such disgusting glory. I’m sure those spike headed Brits never imagined their music would make it the English gutters, let alone go on to shape the development of all extreme music to follow.
There isn’t anything of creative brilliance or earthshattering greatness on Blood Red Tentacle, but that’s besides the point. It gets straight to the brutality and never relents, unleashing a chaotic assault of death, thrash, doom, and punk. Did I mention that it’s only a little over 30 minutes long too? In a world where bands from all walks of life are on a never ending mission to “fill the CD” with as much fodder as humanly possible, Disfuneral have cut the fat, serving up a disgusting and deadly slab of human meat.
7 out of 10
Label: Redefining Darkness Records
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: Autopsy, Obituary, Abscess