Bands with names like this I always check to see if there any other acts with the same name and was surprised to find out that there aren’t which is highly unusual given that most words and terms surrounding torture etc. have multiple bands using the same name. Also I absolutely love their logo which has that rancid old school death metal styling by having pictures within the individual letters of the band’s moniker. Hailing from Portland, Oregon this is the bands third full length and follows a very short gruesome EP that came out in 2021. Torture Rack fix their bombardment on writing the most hideous, gnarly and grisly death metal imaginable yet retain plenty of melody within the decomposing demolitions. I did laugh at the cover art, which whilst gore loaded doesn’t have the detailing you now see in death metal album covers, but I’d certainly wear a shirt with it on, no question.
‘Ceremonial Flesh Feast’ is the opener to the album with its dense groove filled riffage and squealing lead work that adorns the start of it. The first band and album I thought of when I started listening to this was Baphomet’s ‘The Dead Shall Inherit’ from 1992 (the band changed their name to Banished after they released this album I should add before returning to the original name later) due to the dense sound and monstrously deep vocal style. The band’s use of blasting segments is focused, allowing the proper old school deathly thunder to bludgeon the listener. There are obvious Cannibal Corpse references too but primarily down to the sound and occasional riff but overall this bunch crafts their own niche with aural grotesquery that continues on ‘Decrepit Funeral Home’. The short snare roll start allows the double kick to drive home the songs disembowelling riff that fans of Incantation will appreciate and when you get the low end bass riff break and subsequent speed surge with copious amounts of groove you can’t help but be dragged along with it.
That ugliness is prevalent on every track as the repugnant ‘Forced From The Pit’ shows so well, the deep resonant gurgles allow the song to unveil a blasted segment and like I mentioned they use them with focused precision to deliver maximum impact. The scraping screeching lead has that old school Slayer like vibe, think the ‘Hell Awaits’ album as the brief interlude of ‘Morning Star Massacre’ offers a brief respite before ‘Victims Of Inquisitors’ gives you four snare taps like gun shots to the head before the blasted start. In places there is an Autopsy styling going on, primarily due to the density but also that pungent stagnant aura the production has, as the vocals also take on a slight Mortician tone in places. Whilst I’m referencing plenty of bands that are similar to Torture Rack, none are a total match because the band constructs varied tunes with plenty of riff changes.
‘Bone Snare’ is truly down in the gutter, it’s ugly riffing and putrefying toning is balanced by blast work outs and inhuman vocalising and contrasts with far punkier ‘Fucked By Death’ with its drum start and cracking crust like bass hook. It is similar to the songs on the EP ‘Pit Of Limbs’ before the total crushing onslaught of ‘Impalement Storm’. The bass here seems to encase, choking the life from you with its asphyxiating density before the pulverising ‘Descent To Infernal Chasms’ sends the album into a blast-wave with some fine riff changes that lead into monstrous groove which is very addictive. Closing the release is ‘Rotting Insignificance’ where a half blast leads into some gnarly sludge horror that is ultra-penetrating but still massively catchy.
One for fans of any of the bands I’ve mentioned in the review and guaranteed to inflict sonic evisceration.
(8.5/10 Martin Harris)
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