I recently watched the Gates Of Hell trilogy from the mental gore obsessed Horror director Lucio Fulci and damn was I impressed, well aside from maybe House By The Cemetery (well, apart from the bat scene maybe). None the less he certainly was a visionary for Horror movie making. His sublime Zombi 2 being perhaps one of the most iconic underground Horror flicks of all time, well at least in my mind. So, shouldn’t all Death Metal artists draw inspiration from these sorts of works? Well I think so, but no everyone has to be all original and stuff. I kid of course but seriously there should be way more pure Horror infused Death Metal acts, the ones we’ve already got are fantastic but we need more!
That’s where the mighty Fulci come in, named after of course the iconic director himself and hailing from none other than Italy. These guys are totally up to the task of taking on such a striking catalogue of material and turning it into Death Metal. In 2015 they created some eruptions with Opening The Hell Gates but it was 2019’s Tropical Sun that really blew them up across the internet. It certainly grabbed my attention that’s for sure, and since its release I’ve only grown to become even more of a fan. So, imagine my surprise when I heard that Exhumed Information was dropping, I just had to get me a piece of that, and here’s what I thought of it.
Autopsy begins in typical 80s Horror worshipping Fulci fashion. Ambient, Synth heavy and generally Mortician-esque. Then it’s straight into Voices, the thick OSDM riffs and drums pound away, with melodic hooks thrown in for good measure. Vocally it’s a guttural and nasty modern underground Death Metal affair, truly sickening material. Nightmare soon kicks in, it isn’t exactly technically impressive but damn that opening riff is a right slab of filth, this is a standout track for sure. Evil and Funeral then round off the first half of the album nicely, short, sharp and utterly vile. Fulci really are the embodiment of Death Metal, also can I just note that the bass on Evil is totally captivating, if you like Death Metal you need to get this in your ears immediately.
Tomb keeps up the energy with more slabs of pleasing hell gate opening delights. I literally don’t think Fulci could more adequately befit their namesake. The guitars throughout this record really elevate the album, there are portions of OSDM, Slam (to a degree), certainly BDM, Grind and much more, truly they are one of my favourite Death Metal bands of recent years. Big synth energy opens up Glass, and I love it, give me 80s or give me death! Honestly it works given the subject matter, much the same as Mortician and their endless samples. Then it’s time for Child, the longest song (a whopping almost six minutes). Is it killer? Well obviously! What more would you expect from this belter of a record? Although I hope you like 80s Horror soundtracks because yes, that’s the rest of the album. Now that could be a little disappointing to some, but for me, on the strength of the Metal and the fact that this is all about a perfect marriage of Death Metal and Horror I dig it. It almost has this super over the top vibe, like it’s unexpected and honestly different to what a lot of other artists are doing, as Cemetery rings out I’m left as a happy fan.
Mortician check, Fulci (the director) check, 80s check, Horror check, gore, perversion and sickness, you bet! When Tropical Sun dropped in 2019 I was pretty damn impressed and since then the band have grown on me more and more. This was honestly one of my most anticipated albums of 2021 and it completely lives up to my expectations. All killer, no filler, in fact even the filler (synth tracks) slay, if you’re a complete Horror worshipper like me then you need to hear this. Fulci are the underground to me and I adore their work.
(9/10 George Caley)
Leave a Reply