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PUTRESCENCE
The Wrath To Conquer All

Putrid Recordings (2022)
Rating: 8/10

It’s a shame about the unoriginal band name because this death metal act from Los Angeles, California is quite a force. There’s plenty of bottom-end old school vibes here considering the band only formed three years ago; the current line-up being George Arrelano (vocals), Frank Gastelum (lead guitar), Lenny Castillo (rhythm guitar), Rae Trujillo (bass), and Dino Gonzalez (drums).

There’s nothing complex here; to put it simply, Putrescence play a death metal style in the vein of classic Death with flashes of Autopsy, Morgoth, and Floridian flavours. You get piled with a glut of chunky, organic riffs, earthy vocal growls, sudden drums and a bass that fractures the spinal cord.

The lead work throughout is more than competent, as evidenced on the depths of the opening title track. Elsewhere we get the foreboding rumbles of ‘Eternal Rest’ with its kidney punch drums, the faster barrage of ‘Suffocation Pit’, and my favourite rough n’ tumble composition in ‘Put The Needle In’ with its steady pulse.

Sure, it’s a formulaic design but such is the bassy tone that the no frills approach just engages. The likes of ‘Discombobulated’ rip with their soiled, sturdy rhythmic prowess, also evidenced on the dank, steady tides of ‘Putrid Death’.

This is quality, often mid-tempo death metal that I could listen to all day, and this meaty debut full-length platter has provided enough nutrition until the next one emerges.

Neil Arnold

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