Comatose Music keeps finding us more brutal slam death metal bands. This time it’s Engorgement, out of the UK, with their second album, They Rot Beneath Our Floor. It’s been a minute since the release of their debut, from 2012, Excruciating Intestinal Lacerations.
That is a damn fine display of brutal slam death metal. Ricky Hill is the newest member, joining last year, on guitar with guitarist Stu Hine, taking on vocals now. Richard Lynn on bass remains intact, and Mitch Rider is back on drums. They Rot Beneath Our Floor has a very violent yet colorful album cover and 10 songs in 36 minutes.
“Prelude to Your Dismemberment” is a creepy 90-second intro, setting the stage for the brutality about to bludgeon us into oblivion. “Keep Festering” comes blasting in with filthy gutturals and a brutality which continues their onslaught, from the debut. The snare drum sound has that pop sound to it, sounds very similar to Visceral Throne. The song is prime brutality with slam after slam after slam. The ending slam part has a bit of Despised Icon to it, especially in the guttural department. An excellent song.
The title track erupts with a gravity blast, then abruptly shifts to a mid-paced heavy tempo, then back into the Brain Drill type of gravity blast. Then back into this hoppy slam, where you will just want to pick up trucks and launch them over your lawn. The 1.40 section has a godly growl that is putrid and ready to maul you to death. The abrupt shifts from gravity blast to slams, I must say, is not something I have heard a slam band do. It’s one thing to go from blast to slam or vice versa. But the gravity blasting, while chaotic, is super cool to hear. Not many bands do that kind of blasting anymore. This song is supercharged in brutality and execution!!
“Complete Bowel Extraction” is not something you ever wanna hear is going to happen to you. The brutality begins, and we hear a sound clip of a knife being sharpened, then off to the races with crucial slams. The slam at the two-minute timestamp is supremely devastating. The slam takes a turn for the slower, where you can really feel the caveman knuckle-dragging brutality take hold of you. Then this slam gets even more brutal at the 3.10 timestamp. So friggin’ heavy I thought my jaw was about to fall off.
The production is really good on They Rot Beneath Our Floor. Despite the chaotic moments of gravity blasts, the guitars never lose their power, which is a huge plus. Engorgement is not doing anything original in this genre of brutal death metal; however, how they write and create slam is a huge bonus. Riffs are memorable and the music is ultra brutal. I expect nothing less from Steve and Comatose Music. This is a super fun album.
