Earlier this week, as I was aimlessly scrolling through my Facebook feed, I came across a post from a good friend showing off his latest cassette finds. As a media collector myself (mainly vinyl, but sometimes CD and tapes too), I always stop to admire these types of posts. Among Decide’s Amon: Feasting the Beast compilation and an Oath of Cruelty demo was a tape from a band called Laceration. Having never heard of Laceration, I assumed they must rule to be in such good company.
I went back and checked out their 2010 demo, Realms of the Unconscious. Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed. These guys sounded like Slayer being jumped by Demolition Hammer. There were tinges of death metal here and there, but thrash remained the key ingredient. I wondered if they were still around. A quick glance upon their Metal Archives page revealed that not only is Laceration still active, but on the verge of releasing their debut full length, Demise! Yes, after 15 years of demos, splits, and sporadic periods of inactivity, Laceration is back with a vengeance.
If their demos were Slayer being jumped by Demolition Hammer, Demise is Morbid Angel being jumped by Demolition Hammer. These dudes have definitely doubled down on the old school death metal that merely served as an undertone on previous releases. This is evident on the sinister “Verbal Expiration”, the Covenant-esque “Inhumation”, and the blistering grindfest that is “Human Malevolence”. The guitars have that early 90s Morrisound edge to them. They’re as muscular as they are mentally deranged. The gut wrenching gutturals and unforgiving rhythms only emphasize these riffs that could slaughter listeners en masse alone.
Although death metal is now at the forefront of Laceration’s sound, there’s still plenty of thrashing to be heard. Demise has no shortage of violent Demolition Hammer-isms. They’re scattered throughout the entire album. Whether it be on “Bed of Nails”, “Monolith”, “Severed Innocence”, or any number of cuts, Laceration knows how to throw it down when need be, countering their breakneck death/thrash attack with meaty mosh riffs and cranium crushing breakdowns. On some songs (i.e. Parasomnia), these breakdowns are such absurd knuckle draggers that they remind me of early Suffocation or the glory days of New York hardcore.
As someone who’s tired of the same old Entombed clones, Bolt Thrower clones, Mortician clones, etc. clogging up my inbox, Laceration stands tall as one of the few truly original bands in the death metal scene today. Despite coming off as unapologetically old school (which is always a good thing) and displaying the traits of various death/thrash legends, at no point while listening to Demise did I think to myself, “This sounds like it could be a lost Morbid Angel or Demolition Hammer album.” No, this is indeed a Laceration album. And its brutality is a force to be reckoned with.
8 out of 10
Label: Rotted Life Records
Genre: Death/Thrash Metal
For fans of: Morbid Angel, Demolition Hammer, Sepultura