“Psychosomatic storm bursting the gates of memory.”
Deranged Excruciations is the sound of a death metal band having it all at once. Metaphobic are debuting their LP through Everlasting Spew, an ossuary for underground extreme metal across the world. The label’s roster contains some of the most terrifying bands of the scene, putting out hyped records from Fossilization, Convocation, Altars, Nothingness, and Void Rot in recent years (to name just a few). Picked up on the basis of their first demo, Metaphobic hope to make their mark on the scene with a fully fledged release, and have crafted a memorable record that should be noted.
The record opens on “Spectral Circle” which pitches them as an especially tight band. Their vocals might spring out from a space several caverns away, but the guitars, drums and bass are on the dime for every chug. The record’s shortest track, it’s an adrenaline injection of everything the band is about. Another fast one is “Execration”, my choice for the record’s most memorable moment, taking a wild ride across blast beats and dissonance. The twists approach Gorguts-levels of labyrinthine – an especially precise bridge fires twice, the second time ending in a satisfying groove approaching “The Art Of Somber Ecstacy”’s legendary instrumentals. With pointedly dissonant riffing being increasingly recognised as a cornerstone of death metal in its own right, the timing of Deranged Excruciations couldn’t be better.
Yet the album also exudes atmosphere, approaching doom on the massive nine minute “Disciples of Vengeance”. The band switches between cavernous and technical on “Mental Deconstruction”, with a dive-bombing and enthralling opening moving into double kick verses. Speaking of grand, epic closer “Insatiable Abyss” has an acoustic opening which sends mixed tonal messages, daring to hint at the major key whilst a choir of drowned voices drone from the shallows. The rest of the track makes up for the volume, doubling down on the deranged twisty riffs and mountainous drum performances, taking notes on double kicks from the school of Mortiferum.
While they’re getting plenty weird with their songwriting, there’s also a constant ‘old school’ element to the sound. “Reconstituted Grey Matter” is your fastest route to satisfaction in this regard, closing on unashamedness cool solos and a tight grooving riff. The fundamentals of good songwriting have not been forgotten whilst they carefully mixing all of these styles. Structures that feel intuitive to the listener are especially important for their approach, as the vocals hit such a low register and have such loose timing – they become a mostly textural element, leaving the riffs and rhythms to communicate our progress through their horrific world. As such, the vocals will be the most divisive element as the style somewhat limits Metaphobic’s range. On “Veiled Horizons” some moments of fast flow are a miss due to the muddy nature, though these work better on “Hypnosis Engram”, where multiple takes are spaced across the mix.
Metaphobic’s 2021 release was apparently a demo, but sounded fantastic and fully formed. Deranged Excruciations doesn’t fix what isn’t broken – the band returned to Alex Parra at Second Sight Sound for the second time. Together they’ve achieved a coveted ‘late 90s to early 00s’ sound, a fantastic era for extreme metal where records sounded both smooth yet gritty. It’s not over produced, even handed between all the voices, and plenty dynamic. In particular, the bass is delightfully articulate across the album without the low end becoming too busy. You can even A-B the two production styles via the track “Veiled Horizons”, as it also appeared on the demo – a preference for either sound would be respectable
Metaphobic are time capsule for forty years of death metal history. Although they have unique elements, especially their vocals and focus on songwriting fundamentals, the way they’ve carefully infused the most compelling elements of death metal within one release is a rare feat. In recent memory there hasn’t been an underground death metal band that scratched every itch like Deranged Excruciations does.
8/10
Deranged Excruciations releases through Everlasting Spew Records on the 28th February and can be pre-ordered here.