Terminus Episode 63 - Alchemy of Flesh, Connected, Cerebral Effusion, Wyrtgurn

Prepare yourselves, Terminators, for an episode which undoubtedly features our highest CPM rating (Chugs Per Minute) yet! In a major departure from the usual, we've got more death than black today, which according to The Death Metal Guy means that we're looking at another 2 weeks of winter when it eventually rolls around. We've got oldschool Tampa worship, deathrash, brutal death- and, yeah, a weird stenchy black metal record because, c'mon, what show are you listening to again?

The festivities begin with Alchemy of Flesh, a one-man project worshipping at the altars of Morbid Angel and a few other Tampa legends, but not in the way you might think- the focus here is on the band's later work, with slithering midpaced riffs generating the exact sort of Cthonic atmosphere you've come to expect from Azagthoth. This isn't one-dimensional, though- Altars of Flesh brings labyrinthine song structures and an impressive array of rhythms and textures to the forefront, making for something that should grab the attention of any death metal fan whose interests reach beyond Stockholm.

Following this is another debut, this time from young Finnish deathrashers Controlled. Swathed in the aesthetics of a cutout bin gem from '96, this band fuses an array of early-mid 90s sounds into a melange both organic and potent. Instead of recreating a particular band's style, Controlled investigate the forgotten connective tissue between many niches now forgotten: the links between groove and death, Gothenburg and Tampa, and all points in between. It's as creative as it is direct, and will bring back childhood memories of buying albums simply because they had sick skeletons on them bro.

After our interlude is, ugh, another brutal death record! This time it's Cerebral Effusion, rising from a 7 year slumber with a record as cold and alienating as it is furious and technical. In a manner much like Suffocation taken to it's hideous logical conclusion, the band blasts, gurgles, and slams their way through 7 tracks of caustic and traditional brutal death geared toward those who prefer their death metal demanding and indecipherable. Unapproachable? Certainly. But listen carefully and patterns of technical excellence and anxious geometric structure begin to form.

Concluding the episode is yet ANOTHER debut, this time from Wyrtgurn, playing a brand of black metal that teases the brain with familiarity while resembling no one else in particular. This is The Black Metal Guy's opportunity to provide a guided tour through the narrow, twisting alleys of archaic stenchcore and its relation to extreme metal. Goblins two-step in a dungeon after an unsuccessful attempt to navigate the Moat of Eels. The sword is rusty, but that only makes its wounds that much more prone to infection.

 

0:00:00 - Intro

0:06:54 - Alchemy of Flesh - Ageless Abominations (Redefining Darkness)

0:48:43 - Connected - The Degeneration (Independent)

1:29:46 - Interlude - Armoured Angel - “Enigmatize” / “Carved in Sin,” fr. Mysterium (Id, 1994)

1:37:43 - Cerebral Effusion - Ominous Flesh Discipline (New Standard Elite)

2:09:29 - Wyrtgurn - A Legacy of Spite (Nebula Aeterna Productions)

2:56:57 - Outro - One Master - Infinite Void fr. The Quiet Eye of Eternity (Independent, 2009)

 

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