This is the 5th album by the Italian death metal band. Once again their obsession with horror movies dominates the lyrics. Musically the opening track feels like they are paying tribute to Cannibal Corpse. I hear more of who they are when it gets to the thrashing attack of "Morbid Lust". The vocals have more form and function on this one. At times his low growl reminds me of Dr Claw from Inspector Gadjet. "Morbid Lust' is even more deliberate than the hammering that preceded it on "Fucked With a Broken Bottle' which makes no attempt to hide the Cannibal Corpse influence. The main difference is some of the more melodic guitar lines layered about. These guys are very heavy but also care about songwriting which goes a long way with me.
"Maniac Unleashed" chugs along more straightforwardly with less to set it apart. I am not sure why they had someone rap on the song "Knife' but that is what happens. The riff to 'Slasherality" steamrolls you with a more deliberate churning though it builds momentum until they are at your typical death metal hyper-aggressive tempo. The groove they lock into is very Slayer-inspired. These guys are pretty capable riff writers as they just toss around killer riffs like they have a surplus of them hanging around the practice space on "Human Scalp Collection". Though perhaps they blew their load on that one as the title track might have some melodic chord progressions, but is not as inspired.
They take you back to the intersection of when death metal branched off from thrash on "Rotten Apple". The riff grooves a little more and is very head bangable. It does find its way into a breakdown-like riff that tips the balance on this one sending it into the pretty damn killer side of the fence. "Sadistic Murder" is a dense riff machine that chugs with magnetic motion. The aggression powering this song is a homage to the maniacs of the movies this album is a hymnal to. "Stabbed , Gutted and Loved" is another song that could almost be a tribute to Cannibal Corpse, it's the thrash influence that provides these guys with a sense of identity. The more melodic the better sense anyone can do brutal for the sake of being brutal. The last song is more of an outro since ambiance largely rules the day, I like the sax that appears here and think if they had worked this into the more straightforward death metal it would have been more of a game changer. I will give this one a 9, even though it follows the shadow of their influences down a dark alley, they emerge with their own blood-soaked take on things.This drops August 9th on 20 Buck Spin.
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