Stench

This Swedish trio are aiming to put the stink back in death metal, and they succeed on their debut full-length. Following an EP from last year, In Putrescence takes its leads from demo-era old-school Swedish death. Like, for real: to these dudes, Left Hand Path is to the Nihilist demos as Sworn Enemy are to NYHC, if you get my drift. Heck, screw the demos, these guys worship at the altar of Nihilist rehearsal tapes, dubbed versions of rehearsal tapes, the idea of rehearsal tapes. But it's actually not all sludge and grime, as tracks like "Face of Death" shred like Slayer on death metal, while "Ghosts" has a touch of melody and technical proficiency amongst the blasting. "Crimson Hills" is a beautiful mess of perfectly done mid-to-fast DM with just the right amount of Autopsy-like sewage in the atmosphere. This is ugly stuff, total old-school death metal done up just right.