Admittedly, I’ve been pretty locked in to the milder side of my metal spectrum; melodic black metal, symphonic deathcore, etc. However, I did randomly have a craving for Sweden’s Deranged, and fired up Deranged, , Rated X, and Plainfield Cemetery. ( I never heard anything past Plainfield…I should probably rectify that).
I had a pretty good online relationship with founder and drummer Rikard Wermen, and interviewed him a few times for other publications. But while listening to those albums, I thought to myself, “No one has really recreated that sound since”; That utterly savage but clean blend of brutal death metal and grindcore.
But here comes Denmark’s Genocide Doctrine, comprised of veterans of the Danish scene (Dreadlord, Dysgnostic, Serpent’s Lair, Abscission, Carbon Tomb, Urkraft, to name a few), and the second opener, “Cesspit”, ripped into my ears; Deranged instantly came to mind.
It’s a nasty, blistering, unrelenting mix of brutal and technical death metal and Napalm Death/Nasum-y grindcore. But it’s got a sharp guitar tone, some nasty, demonic vocals, and a dense low end.
With 18 songs in 27 minutes, the grindcore brevity is condensed into a vicious death metal sound, with the longest songs at just under three minutes (“The Totalitarian” and “Bottom Dweller”). It blasts by with a complete disregard for memorability, just sheer teeth-shattering velocity and power cords as heard on “The Filth of Man”, “A Stain Upon Existence”, “Inside” and the 24-second “Sic Semper Tyrannis””
A couple of more throbbing, slower tracks like “Just Meat”, “Bottom Dweller”, “Iron Lung”, the groovy “Punishment Revoked” add a little reprieve, but not much, as the album will leave you reeling and concussed from start to finish.
