WTN "Rotting in Pestilence" CD
[Razorback]
More thick and chunky gore grind from Razorback (What else!?), though this time the bad hails from Singapore of all places! The first track is a four-minute instrumental that basically consists of one vicious mosh riff that sounds not unlike classic Carcass with a smidge of Bolt Thrower thrown in (no kidding), and that sort of sets the pace for the whole disc. Expect moderately fast tempos and grinding blasts with a few flurried solos, sick low growls and nasty high screams... all that. Most of the songs are between one and three minutes and rarely let up, but there are a few slightly slower breaks. The harmonizers used on the lead runs of "House of Necrophilia" aren't that hot, which is unfortunate as the slower breaks in the track are a welcome change (granted its excessive running time also gets tedious). The cover of Impetigo's "I Work for the Streetcleaner" is a nice touch, but I think well rounded tracks like "Eye for Pathology" and "Laughter From the Morgue" are the real winners. The recording is really raw, which is both good and bad. Good because the rawness fits what they're doing, but bad because it gets too messy during the faster parts, so all you can really hear somewhat clearly are the drums and a few tangible riffs here and there. The distorted bass tone would be supreme if it were more consistently audible, though! I also like the fact that the vocals are mixed way back in behind the guitars, but I wish there was a little more definition to the playing, as is noticeable during some of the slower moments. The layout contains lots of posed band photos that I assume are trying to be pretty funny what with the "extreme" facial expressions and hand gestures and stuff, as well as lots of sketchy comic styled drawings done with a nice, minimal color scheme. It could look better, but that's life. And the lyrics are, of course, chock full of horror, gore, violence, blood, guts, and more of the same. This isn't the most exciting release of its kind since it offers little new (it would be great if they threw around a few more of the Bolt Thrower-ish parts), but fans of the genre and Razorback in general should find enough to enjoy. (6/10)
Running time - 40:00 (approximately), Tracks: 14
[Notable tracks: Rotting in Pestilence, Eye for Pathology, Laughter From the Morgue]
Razorback Records - http://www.razorbackrecords.com

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