Insepulto: Morbid Spawn of Resurrection (2012)

Guest review by Patrick, proprietor of Beards, Etc.

Insepulto are a Costa Rican death metal act who released their debut album Morbid Spawn of Resurrection last month. The members all appear to be active parts of other groups in the current Costa Rican death metal scene, but I was not familiar with them or any of their related bands prior to hearing this.

In some ways, this album could be heaped on the pile of old school death metal releases that seems to be growing wildly out of control these past few years [I know I can't keep up--FMA.]. They do certainly draw heavily on older influences, though not really from the earliest glimmers of Florida death metal or the buzzsawing Swedes. Rather, they are more in the vein of some of the slower, more bass heavy death metal acts that emerged in the early 90's. And I found them more compelling than a simple old school clone for a few reasons. For one thing, the beefy riffing comes with a welcome level of energy and is often surprisingly catchy. For another, the scattering of soaring leads are employed perfectly to accentuate and punctuate the material.

Mass Burial: Of Carrion and Pestilence (2012)

Swedish Spaniards

Guest review by Metallattorney. He is the law.

It is entirely possible that Mass Burial has heard of the Swedish death metal scene. And that would be a huge understatement. Mass Burial is dripping with the buzzsaw Swedish death metal riffing sound. The band does one hell of a job at re-capturing the glory that was the early days of Entomed, Dismember, and more. Which is okay, because I am a huge fan of that particular sound. Unfortunately there have been a lot of bands aping the style over the last few years and it is getting a little ridiculous. So a band that wants to play that style had better do something good with it in order to stand out.

Black Mad Lice: It's Going Deeper (2012)

Why does my scalp itch?

My favorite exchange in the Mel Brooks film Robin Hood - Men in Tights is where Prince John is talking to the witch Latrine, and he inquires about her name. She says she changed it. Incredulous, he asks, "You changed it to Latrine?" She responds, "It used to be Shithouse."

And so Black Mad Lice used to be Black Pocket Lice. As death metal band names go, it's still not that threatening, but at least it doesn't sound like some kind of weird Tamagotchi spinoff. For their first release under the new moniker, they are going deeper, presumably deeper into your scalp to avoid the effects of prescription shampoo.

Centurion: Serve No One (2012)

Wal-Mart Employee Motto

With all the Polish death metal bands reviewed on this site lately, it's easy to lump another one into the "sounds just like Vader and Behemoth" pile. It's actually refreshing to lump one into a different pile of bands.

Centurion is a Polish death metal band out of Warsaw. They just released their second full-length this year, Serve No One, a decade after their debut. Instead of being Vader sound-alikes, they ape Suffocation's brutal-technical approach. And they play it well, with their modern production sounding akin to the New York band's more recent work. Since they copy Suffocation, and capably, they're awesome. No question of that.