It’s been a few years since we’ve last heard from Danish death dealers Undergang. OK, that’s not entirely true. In the time that has passed since their last full length, Aldrig i livet, Undergang has kept busy releasing splits with the likes of Cadaveric Incubator, Anatomia, Spectral Voice, and more. Shame on me for not keeping up with said releases. I don’t even have a valid excuse either. It’s not like Undergang are putting out splits and EPs every week like Agathocles, so it’s about time I play a little catch up.
Undergang’s latest offering, De syv stadier af fordærv (good luck pronouncing it) is a 7 song, 21 minute EP. Despite it being an abbreviated release, it feels like less of an EP and more of a “mini-album” so to speak. Besides, for the type of death metal Undergang plays, the line between EP and full length tends to get blurred anyways. Lest we forget that their 2017 classic, Misantropologi, only clocked in 7 minutes longer at 28 minutes and 27 seconds total? I’m not saying Undergang aren’t capable of unleashing 40 minutes of pure death, but this ain’t Queensrÿche either baby. Let’s keep it short and sick.
Just like every Undergang release before it, De syv stadier af fordærv is a no frills death metal assault on the senses. If you stuck an input jack into the eye socket of a decomposing corpse, chances are you’d hear something resembling this EP. As usual, there are certain songs boasting a death/doom slant in the vein of Autopsy and Cianide. “Mælkehvid og gennemsigtigt” and “Dødsstivhed” throw in lethal barrages of trudging riffage, the latter’s intro being the longest part of the song, which even then is less than 2 minutes. However, just as Undergang can slow things to a crawl, they can cause equally as much chaos at flesh-ripping high speed and d-beat driven midtempo mania.
While I wouldn’t label any of these songs deathgrind or goregrind, there is a grinding energy throughout this entire release that evokes shades of early Carcass and Dead Infection. The latter’s influence is especially evident on the opening “Død”, tupa-tupa section and all. Per usual, the riffs and gutturals on here rival Demilich in terms of sheer brutality, minus the technical flourishes, of course. If you haven’t figured out by now, Undergang isn’t a band concerned on being the most refined players or songwriters. They just want to test your sanity with pure death, even doing so on my choice cut, groovy death ‘n’ roller “Misfarvning af liget”.
Considering the last death metal adjacent release I reviewed was an overblown, misguided exploration of prog pompousness, it’s refreshing to review a death metal release that’s actually death metal. Undergang haven’t “experimented” too drastically yet, and I don’t take them as the band to do so. They’re much too concerned about honoring the traditions of their gore-crazed forefathers than pretending to be something they aren’t. Let’s hope for our sake it stays that way. Undergang is for the underground!
7 out of 10
Label: Dark Descent Records
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: Autopsy, Demilich, Carcass