Execration began their assault on the bleeding ears of humanity with a textbook, brutal, death metal pummelling back in 2008. It was a superb introduction to the band which had until then only produced a couple of demos, one in 2007 and one with a similar line up under the name of Dismemberment in 2009. A Feast For The Wretched was suitably relentless but, occasionally taking its foot off the gas, not without its deft touches. Of course any band entering the arena of brutal death metal usually knows one end of a guitar from another but being able to deliver at full breakneck speed while keeping my attention for nine tracks is another matter entirely. And with song titles like Full Fist Sodomy and Monkey Shit (maybe the two songs are related, you’d have to ask the band) it was enjoyable on so many levels.
Clearly not happy resting on their laurels and regurgitating the same album, as some death metal bands seem to get away with, Execration (this one from Colorado and not to be confused with US bands of the same name from Arizona, Michigan or the one from Oslo in Norway!) have taken a slightly different tack for their second full-length. Rather than plumbing for the vile and visceral they have gone for a more technical journey into existential chaos. The effect is broadly similar but more like being clubbed repeatedly round the head with a finely crafted stainless steel butcher’s hook rather than a rusty old one they found at the back of the abattoir. As an aside, I must admit the first main track (the intro is one of three synthed voyages through the ‘portal’) had a little too much death metal swagger about it for my liking – the kind of legs apart hip-hop shuffling during the chorus that puts me off a lot of US death metal bands. But the next two tracks are for the doubters. This is not a band that is veering away from its roots, just honing its sound. The fourth track, Infernal Rites of Exsanguination has some very nice speed and time changes and it softens you up nicely for the more direct Serpentine Changeling and it’s slow to super-fast tempo and the all-out onslaught The Stars Will Make Known My Rage. Each song is short and sharp and favours an explosive approach rather than indulging in too many guitar frolics and showpieces.
Beyond the workmanship around the guitars, bass and drums, the vocals of new introduction Wyatt Houseman are also worth a mention. Unusually for the genre, his deliberate guttural vomiting still allows you to decipher almost every word. It’s refreshing but also emblematic of the more controlled approach to production that seems to peel back the flesh from the bones to show you exactly what’s going on. It’s is difficult when there are so many gut-wrenchingly impressive death metal bands to say this raises the bar to any new levels but it’s certainly a fine release. I’m sure some fans will also find that the more clinical approach has extinguished some of the animal ferocity from the sound. But with songs like The Great Fall and final track The First Death this is a fine release and worth a look for fans of focused brutality.
(7.5/10 Reverend Darkstanley)
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