Much like last year’s solid Inhuman Depravity album, Depraved Murder is a new-ish ( they had a debut back in 2015) band from an obscure country, where as soon as the album started playing, I know the primary influence immediately.

But where Inhuman Depravity was from Turkey and was an obviously Sinister-loving band, Depraved Murder is a duo from the East Java region of Indonesia, and right from the opening salvo of “Entering into Calamity”, it’s clear where the primary influence lies here: Suffocation, Pyrexia and more Suffocation.

Yeah, this is technical, brutal, unrelenting death metal, fully in the Comatose tradition, but with the clear tone, riffage and vocal influence of the above bands. There isn’t quite as much slamming, East Coast groove, ( which would have made things even more awesome), though there are a few, but the clear Effigy of the Forgotten influence makes this a winner of a record regardless.

The duo of Ogy (guitar, bass, vocals) and Rama (drums), blast through 9 songs in a short but savage 28 minutes and it is superbly done. From the massive production (no tippy tappy snare here) to Ogy’s Frank Mullen-ish vocals, occasional hefty lurches (i.e. “Mass Murder Extinction”, “Unmanifest Void”, “Unethical Terrestrial Collapse”), and chaotic leads, everything hits hard and often.

My only gripe, as much as I enjoy some of the relentless brutality (i.e. “Relentless Brutality”- see what I did there?), is I wish they would take the foot off the pedal a little more often, as heard in parts of “The Pinnacle of Vile Deceit” or closer “Apocryphal Hymns”, as this is pretty much warp speed from start to finish other than a couple of lurches mentioned above. With their prowess in brutality and the huge production, they could really do some damage in these songs.

But that’s a minor gripe with a pretty damn good record and a solid release from the genre masters Comatose Music, and honestly, this is the album I wanted Antropofagus‘s Origin to be last year.

[Visit the band's website]

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