Germanic death metal can be brutal, uncompromising and out and out butchering, and this is a case in point for the first full length release from German duo, Terminal Carnage.

‘The Sickening Rebirth’ is battering and bludgeoning from start to finish, slow and exact, heavy and precise, with non-stop hammering drum work. This is old school death metal at its finest and it has an almost tale of two halves in respect of the vocal talents of Stefan Walter, the first half being violent and harsh, and then it’s as if a switch is plunged and into the fray walks vocals which conjure up a clear image of vocals from one of the death metal masters himself, the mighty John Tardy. Sit back, close your eyes and open up your ears to the latter tracks and I swear down you could be listening to a new Obituary spawn, it is that comparable.

‘Future Shock (Intro)’ opens you up to a thick bass line with guitars which are distorted all over the place, and a spoken word which seems to narrate a world disaster which has lent itself to technological causes of one form or another.

The second track, ‘Involuntary Organ Donor’, is complex beyond its years; the track is thrashy and speedy yet has a death undertone with a plodding back beat. The six strings seem to pulse along at a rate of knots and the vocals are vicious and punching which sit atop of a booming and carving drum score of epic proportions.

The title track and third on the album, ‘The Sickening Rebirth’, opens with a siren blasting out and then this is undercut by a guitar which seems to carve open the track to release its innards. There is some melody on show here amidst some old school death metal roots and the track just seems to grow in heaviness and intensity throughout.

The album continues in much the same vein as the standard it has built and set thus far, tracks are accentuated with hints of melody within crunching and barbaric death metal skeletal bodies. Groove has been written into the structure of the album and this almost disrupts the out and out bulldozing the rest of the album dictates., the vocals are talented and are flawless from start to finish, almost as unblemished as the music it sits astride.

These is one to put on, crank the volume up, and maybe generate a one person mosh pit in the comfort of your very own kitchen. It demands you to put in the hours of practice ready for when we are all set loose on each other in some tiny stinky club somewhere.

It is just that good!!

(8.5/10 Phil Pountney)

https://www.facebook.com/terminalcarnage

https://greatdanerecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-sickening-rebirth