When the boss said he was sending me two South American death metal albums from an underground Russian label to review I won’t lie to you, I did groan a bit. I’d not heard of either band nor had I heard of the label and to be honest I envisioned some third rate sub-Sevared Records slammy bullshit. But, as is often the case according to the lovely Mrs Eve, I was completely wrong. Just like the new release from Evil Reborn (which you may have read my review of on the site recently) this release from Ecuador’s Epidemia is killer.
Despite being in existence since 2003 this is only the second album from the band, the first being 2006’s ‘Mutilador de Cuerpos’ – and yes that would make a great title for a ‘Coffin Joe’ film!
All lyrics are sung in Spanish however, despite my somewhat ….. non-existent grasp of the language (Leprocomio means ‘Leper Colony’… I’d still put my mortgage on the guess that songs like the totally scorching ‘Cadavers Poseidos’ , ‘Retribucion Homicida’ and ‘Necroticismo’ are not emo ballads about unrequited love. No sir!
Musically Epidemia are raw & savage with sound similar to Incantation / Morbid Angel with a drum sound that reminds me of Dying Fetus…. In fact Daniel Villarreal’s drumming is bang on throughout the album. The sleeve art is pure 80’s and kinda Ed Repka esque, this would never be mistaken for anything other than a death metal album and I like that.
All the songs are brutal however the band are not just about heads down blasting, there are plenty of heavy, slower riffs that pound & grind away at you. Adrian Salazar sounds like David Vincent’s pissed off younger brother and his growling fits the savagery of the musicianship 100%.
This is a great underground release that deserves a place in your collection if you like proper death metal.
(8/10 Mark Eve)
https://www.facebook.com/EPIDEMIAEC
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