Believe it or not, still now and again, a debut album surprises me in a really good way. I’ve heard every style within every genre for decades, folks. Back in 2019, my longtime friend Matt Bishop was on one of my favorite debut brutal death metal albums, in a long time, Excruciating Extermination, from Horrific Demise. Kyle Christman played drums on that album. He’s obviously some sort of child prodigy, because that bastard plays guitar on this debut from Protrusion – The Last Suppuration.

Why is this important to mention, you ask?! Well, because this debut is one of my favorite brutal death metal debut albums, I have reviewed, in quite some time. Sure, the band hails from the Midwest and is rounded out by John Elston – bass, Colin Foster vox/guitars, and Kevin Baum on drums, and like all Midwest death metal bands, this is a winner. One of the main reasons I love this album immensely is that there is quite a gnarly mix and influence of New Jersey’s, and my personal favorite, Mortal Decay, on this sucker!!

With 10 songs and a run time of over 50 minutes, this is a long album for this style of death metal, imo, but let’s get to “Confined to Anguish”, which opens the album. First, there is an acoustic opening moment that erupts with the music and Colin Foster laying waste with an insanely excellent growl. The gutturals and style further cement him as having Johnny Paoline, from Mortal Decay, as his biggest vocal influence. I mean, Colin’s vocals take me back to Grisly Aftermath, Brutalizing Creations, and Dawn of Misery in 0.0 seconds. But it’s also how the music is played with the sharp squealing pinch harmonics, off-kilter guitars, having a discordant bend to them. These are some complex rhythms, which Mortal Decay is known for. They created that style, imo. The song gets into mid-paced brutality, and the instruments all sound amazing. The double bass drum sound is punishing.

I love tongue-in-cheek songs, and I was lucky enough to avoid the “Boiled at Birth” family ceremony, or else I would not be here writing this review. This song has a great 90’s flair with the death metal speed, and Colin is owning the vocal elements on this. The mix of drum speeds and swirling guitar solos comes to a halt, with the song slowing down with some fantastic gutturals, and then the song speeds up with a blast. There is a terrific growl over the blast, and then the song slows down, and an Ahh growl is let out, ala Mr. Paoline. I swear, if you had told me Johnny sang on this, I would have said Yes, I know. The meandering, doomy, and evil slowdown and pinch harmonics take me back to 1994. The song gets moodier with atmosphere, ethereal solos, then the 4.10 timestamp with the vocal setup and jumpiness to the music coming in, made me punch holes in the walls.

“Slugs of Decadence” is not a side dish at Ruth’s Chris, but a brutal song indeed it is. The song begins with some brutality, then slows down with pinch harmonics and ultra-heavy guitar work. Good audible bass guitar, to follow along, and doomy and emotive. An isolated riff comes in, then a good growl to signify the time change, and this is a most excellent headbanging spot. The title track brings forth some neat guitar harmonies as the slower moments erupt and bring forth some striking heaviness with excellent guitar riffing. This section is deliciously evil and crafted by madmen. The speed is there, and some double-pounding drums with excellent double bass over this section. Then back into the mid-paced moment with some wild guitar soloing happening all around the listener. Yet another great song.

Outside of maybe some of the songs needing to be streamlined a bit, The Last Suppuration is a fantastic slobberknocker of a debut album from Protrusion. I again mention the awesome Mortal Decay influences throughout this album, yet the band still sounds fresh in a number of ways. They get into atmospherics and some ethereal moments. I appreciate that they know when to blast and how to corral it and mix it with their mid-paced moments, and slower, moodier sections.

All of this combines to create a memorable album with excellent songs. Count me impressed. This will rip your head right off and then take your head and batter your lifeless body into oblivion. Absolutely Killer!!

[Visit the band's website]

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