Excellent; just plain excellent. This is the sound of true Brazilian black/death thrashing terror. You know the lineage: Sarcofago, Vulcano, etc. On Grave Desecrator’s Insult, the list includes the likes of early Slayer and Altars of Madness era Morbid Angel as well. Well played, chaotic, and memorable, this is what one might call the cat’s ass.

But the key with Insult, even more so than 2008’s Sign of Doom, is that the chaos never overshadows the fact that these guys are great songwriters. It is indeed unhinged and dirty, but little things like choruses never get lost in the abyssal vortex. “Black Vengeance” (with an old school Araya scream that never gets old) and the title track are just two examples of songs that stick to the ribs. The latter in particular is a fantastic Slayer-esque mid-tempo piece that grooves and hits with a refrain that in most other instances might be called catchy. Waves of murderous riffing and demonic vocals that are more intelligible than usual for the style overwhelm and infect the psyche. Good goat almighty, when the opening riff and power slam of “Dangerous Cult” hits and descends into blasting mayhem, the result is nothing short of blissful!

You want fast and frantic? It’s here too, as exemplified by “Stained by Blood.” You want vicious? You want memorable? You want blasphemous? All of it is packaged up and presented to you as an early 2011 release that is destined for year-end lists across the globe. Well, it should be. And if it’s not, the odds are good that it’ll be on mine. This one kills with no questions asked and with not even an ounce of mercy.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments