Guttural Slug is a brutal slam death metal band hailing from Denmark. With three full-length albums under their belt and having not released anything since their last album, Plague of Filth, in 2019, here comes the Ulcers in the Flesh of Thought EP.

Much has transpired since the last album. Guitarist Mikkel Sørensen hired a whole new band. Jimmy Christensen on bass, Jon Arent – guitars, Lasse Kristensen – drums, and Alexander Kristensen on vox. This is the perfect release to reintroduce this band to the masses.

“Psychosomatic Desynchronization” opens with a slight intro, transitioning into a double-pounding speed. The groove erupts with pig filthy clogged sewer-pipe stylized vocals. The groove is excellent and the double pounding returns with pig squeals and some spliced in shouted sound byte. The varying tempo shifts are great, especially the groove at the 2.44 section with another clever sound bite, signaling the listener about this slam. This is about as heavy as a slam can get. Brutal.

“Suspended from a Single Strand of Sanity” has too many S’s in the title, but starts off with killer and pig squeal vocals all over, blast beats, and then this mid-paced groove, which is ass-kicking. Another shouted part, these moments remind me of their label mates, PeelingFlesh. I could actually see Guttural Slug bringing in that gangsta style hip/hop flair, to a greater degree, on the next release. A variety of wonderful burps and growls all over the place, and the slam at the 2.54 timestamp is how you end a song. This is a huge pit moment. You know, in a live setting, I would play this song and immediately play this title track right after it.

The title track directly opens with a pit-heaving slam. I think it would be nifty to have a song end with the brutal slam and then the start of the next song with a brutal slam, in a live environment, just as the songs are tracked on this EP. It works to the benefit of the band and is super killer. There are plenty of pig snorts, squeals, and fart like vocals on this. “Mind to the Millstone” is just shy of three minutes, but no less brutal than the rest of the songs. Lots of guttural vocals and super heavy riffs. I mean, you get the point at this juncture of what to expect.

Guttural Slug is not reinventing the brutal slam genre, and Ulcers in the Flesh of Thought EP is not unlike anything you have heard, thus far, in this genre. Originality?!, I mean, there is none, and when I listen to this style of death metal, I already know that going in. It’s like when I read reviews for Godzilla movies, and there is so much negativity about how it’s not real, or that was impossible in the movie??? I am like ‘hey dummies, it’s a movie about made-up monsters obliterating everything, so you leave your brain at the door, and enjoy the movie and effects’.

It’s the same with this style of death metal. I leave my brain at the door. I want to be bludgeoned into submission and just want knuckle-dragging slams so I can curl heavier weights at the gym. Pretty simple. Nice slamming brutality on this ep!

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