I know a couple of bands named as ‘Horrified’, but this review deals with the UK-based one, an act with former or current members of e.g. Plague Rider, Winds Of Genocide and Risen Prophecy. In early 2013 they released a (first?) demo, and now they debut with Descent Into Putridity, an expression of the old styled filth we all felt in love with two, maybe three decades ago.
For about thirty one minutes one can enjoy the purity of what could be the sonic definition of the Old School. This is mostly ugly, putrid, barbaric Death Metal, or like the bio states: ‘triumphant in its expression, its glorification of eternal sickly tunes freshly unearthed from the wormy graves of the greats’. With ‘the greats’, they probably want to refer to some of the better bands from the Eighties, those who made the scene glorious as it has become right now. I’ll come back to such comparisons later, of course. But let’s stay focused, and analyse Horrified’s approach. Well, actually it’s rather evident, because the quote I just wrote says it all. In all aspects, or at least in most aspects, these tunes go back to, well, twenty five – thirty years ago, when the scene was still not contaminated with trendy gimmicks or cheap shit whatsoever. Rumbling rhythms are accompanied by guttural, throaty, gurgling grunts à la Mister van Drunen (Pestilence, Asphyx etc.) or Mister Tardy (Obituary), sharp and thrashy solos, brain-shaking leads and a sound oh so nice. Indeed, the production is top-notch: rough and edgy, unpolished and bulldozering, yet at the same time full and well-mixed.
I know it might seem odd, but if you listen to Descent Into Putridity, then you’ll hear that I’m right; consider this a mixture of everything in between the Scandinavian (especially Swedish), early American, and trans-European scene; or: Dismember / Nihilist (and of course early Entombed) / Carnage meet early Death / Incantation / Autopsy / Possessed meet Pestilence / Asphyx / Morgoth. Convinced? I am! One of the best albums in its genre in years…