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SEQUESTRUM
Pickled Preservation EP

Extremely Rotten Productions (2023)
Rating: 8.5/10

In 2022 I revelled in the sludge and sickly sediment that this Danish combo puked up; their debut demo The Epitome Of Putridity coated my nostrils in a squelching, bubbling film of metallic swamp mucus. It was a case of total Carcass worship in many respects, but then again if you’re going to be playing this sort of mashing, congealed death grind then it’s only (un)natural that the Carcass influences will emerge from the bog.

Essentially, Pickled Preservation is more of the same disgusting, putrid and squalid noise whereby catchy yet unhygienic riffs merge with equally downbeat and ungodly percussive slogs, while in-between such soggy bogs of brain-mashing there are those vocal outbursts which sound more akin to bodily fluids leaking from a crusty tap into an equally rank sink hole.

This is simply cess-pit extremity where occasional fits of melody (check the almost straight down the line heavy metal groove that suddenly drifts in on ‘Preserved To Last’) become one with sodden, gloopy grinds, although the frantic, murderous gasps of ‘Necromucouphagia’ – is that even a word? – will have your brains in a twist. But for me it’s the juggernaut grinding of tracks like ‘Consigned To Humus’ which detail the utterly rancid style of these deranged Danes.

Sequestrum also have that eye for the unusual too, so that designs such as ‘Human Broth’ become daring, catchy compositions bordering on almost dance territory before the extra layer of bloodied soot hits the ears like wet cement.

Pickled Preservation ends with a cover of Impetigo’s ‘Dis-Organ-Ized’, which is cool but another original Sequestrum tune would’ve been more welcomed. However, as it is, this is another level of musical depravity that listeners must suck through a straw but in turn contend with the cysts, blood-clots and hardened snot in order to fully enjoy such a mouth-watering set of sploshing songs. Yes, the novelty of such nastiness has worn off ever so slightly but Sequestrum still remains a fetid and foul experience.

Neil Arnold

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