Fetid Zombie - Epicedia

Artist: Fetid Zombie
Release Title: Epicedia
Year: 2016
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Genre: Old-School Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Lowered Beneath
2. Devour the Virtuous
3. Devour the Innocent
4. If the Dead Could Speak

One of the undergrounds’ more creative entities, Virginia-based death metal project Fetid Zombie were created to explore main man Mark Riddick’s boundless enthusiasm for the dark and decrepit spirit of the old-school variety. Following up the endless amount of split releases throughout the year, the project’s sixth full-length release of original material was released November 25, 2016 on Transcending Obscurity Records.

Still hailing true to the underground spirit of the material, for the most part this mostly sticks straight on with the rampant style featured in the past catalog. Running through the same typically simplistic rhythms and variations that were found before, there’s plenty of tight, straightforward basement-dwelling material found in here which allows this one to readily generate dark, swampy rhythms that carry on through more advanced and dynamic structures here with the album’s admittedly-impressive attempts at deriving an epic attitude throughout here which comes off rather nicely with the swirling epic rhythms leaving this one quite enjoyable. With the ability to adopt lengthy, roundabout melodies full of epic splendor or deep, churning riff-work full of that predominantly old-school material. Though the band is quite enjoyable and certainly manages to get quite a lot of impressive work here, the main factor holding this one down is quite apparent from the start here in that the overlong tracks trailing off into rather bland realms merely to get things up to the epic lengths featuring these swirling riffs which just don’t seem to go anywhere. Much like his nominal work in the past, this would’ve been far more enjoyable and engaging at a more reasonable style and tempo, even though there’s not all that many other elements that hold this one back.

It gets a touch too long in the tooth for itself a few times throughout here, but that doesn’t stop the fact that this is still a highly enjoyable and engaging blast of furious old-school inspired death metal that offers a high quality for those that are fans of his previous efforts or aficionados of old-school death metal in general.

Score: 90/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://fetidzombiedm.bandcamp.com/album/epicedia-death-metal

Rotting Obscene - Depths of Decay

Artist: Rotting Obscene
Release Title: Depths of Decay
Year: 2016
Label: Self-Released/Independent (Transcending Records reissue)
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Audient Void
2. Cataclysmic Advent
3. Depths of Decay
4. Nightmares of the Forlorn
5. The Awakening
6. Paths of Deception
7. Abhorrent Reprisal
8. Temporal Diminishment
9. Metamorphic Transcendence
10. Absence of Light
11. Warstorm
12. Defacing Divinity

Storming onto the scene in 2011, Virginian technical death metallers Rotting Obscene got their start with an impressive 4-song demo not long afterwards which signalled the start of a series of lineup shuffles that sees the band finally settle down into a devastating four-piece. They have returned in 2016 with their debut full-length album which was initially self-released March 22, 2016 before a reissue July 22, 2016 on Transcending Records.

For the majority of the album this here offers a strikingly enjoyable burst of technical death metal that manages to get the majority of the great points here from the fact that it’s a wholly dynamic variety of technical death metal. Ranging from the traditional technical wankery that manages to infest this one with a series of highly-complex and challenging riff-work that begins dive-bombing and swirling around the remaining rhythms while incorporating fiery, dynamic soloing into the mix to a series of solid and wholly enjoyable open-ended grooves that rip throughout the music here by letting the main driving rhythms slow down into a more generous section while still maintaining a complex vibe that allows for quite an overall wide degree of variety here within the album. Being able to handily change from the two styles with surprising ease gives the album a great deal of personality with the constant switch-overs between the dazzling technical displays to a more vicious, brutal sprawling section is what packs a huge wallop here and offers up the kind of dynamic impact that really wears on the listen as it beats and pummels for it’s duration. The lone factor here that olds this back somewhat is the album’s rather overlong feel here at times as this is something that really doesn’t need to be as overlong and filled with all the excess tracks that it does here. Several of the longer tracks here are what could’ve been trimmed down a little, leaving this with some rather bland sections by simply continuing on long past the point when they should’ve stopped merely to further showcase their skill-set or deliver a beatdown that’s not necessary. Otherwise, this one was quite an impressive debut effort.

Despite a few areas that need trimming here and there that makes this a little longer than needed, there’s still a great deal of work to be found here that’s immensely enjoyable that it’s enough to really overcome that minor flaw and make this a solid, engaging effort for technical or brutal death metal fanatics who constantly need more of the stuff.

Score: 89/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://www.transcendingrecords.com/cgi-bin/productDetails.cgi?pid=9487&cid=