Well here’s a to-do. I mean we have our resident deathshead here somewhere in the Ave Noctum sewers so why am I dragged out of my fetid hamster dungeon for this? Well I am. So there.

So firstly, though I know the (relatively new) name, never heard a thing before but the cover looked nice and fetid and there was a pleasing lack of puerile song titles about rape and knives and raping with knives, but lots of nicely unpleasant bodily fluids and functions. So, I volunteered. Have to add I’m picky about my death metal; I’m a sewer dweller, a fetid, dank, loose bass string old school fan. None of this technical stuff of ‘slam’. Toxic filth. Tar. Autopsy. Garden Of Eyes for a new band. That kind of thing.

And from the first winding notes of the title track I know I am in nicely sick hands. A low tone, a ponderous almost doomy pace and the staccato riff pushing through the muck. Oh sure it finds its speed, its blast now and then but soon it returns to the slow, thick murk. The vocals are suitably deep, nicely varied and expressive within their own place too. Honestly there is nowt wrong with this at all.

There’s a pleasing sense of knowing how to be straightforward to Cerebral Rot, without being simplistic at all. They can get a thick, rotting groove on, they have a neat line in wandering, eerie guitar breaks and also a perfect turn of pace when they want. The production here is pretty decent too; it retains the sense of resistance to movement when things slow, as though thigh deep in shit and rotting matter, and when it picks up on tracks like ‘Bowels Of Decrepitude’ it has a sense of real momentum that you wouldn’t want to try and stop.

Gotta say as well if you like filth like this it’s also bloody listenable….

They can also surprise in a very good way. The eleven minute closer ‘Crowning The Disgustulent (Breed Of Repugnance) has a fantastic, cloying bass driven intro that is smothered by a great, sticky riff. It takes its time building up without becoming even close to dull and the gradual eerie sounds which creep in and the weird guitar inserts are just perfect. Great way to close.

So there you are. A horrible, cloying bit of rotting death metal. A dense, miserable and frankly highly enjoyable pool of stuff you really don’t want to get too close to. Dive in is my advice.

I’m going back for more.

(8/10 Gizmo)

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https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/excretion-of-mortality