Indiana based brutal death metal trio Visceral Throne have been growing in strength since their formation in 2009 from the ashes of Rotted Rebirth. With one demo and one full length release to their name, the trio, consisting of Andrew Sutton (Drums) and Dylan Cox (Vocals) who were in Rotted Rebirth are joined by Justin Smith (Guitars) who played alongside Andrew Sutton in Kingdom and together, the trio have created one of the most intense EP’s you will hear in 2015.
At 5 tracks and clocking in round 15 minutes in length, you can tell there is no fucking around on this release. The title track is a near minute long instrumental opening which starts to give you a taste of what is to come. With tight guitars and a slightly grating but pounding drum sound, the track seamlessly blends into the following one to the point where if you’re not paying attention, you’d think it was just one longer song. As pointless as the instrumental intro is, “Father” which follows right on from it is anything but. Guttural vocals, cutting guitars and blasting drums pave the way and the song slips between insane levels of ferocity and brutally crushing slams.
“The True Sin” is a maelstrom of chaos. Ridiculously fast paced and frantic in its delivery, it is pure unrestrained anger in musical form. Blastbeats litter the track and the vocal work is harshly and venomously delivered. Even when it slows down as the track goes on, the intensity and heaviness remains in the music, making for a great and uncomfortable listening experience. “Indulgences” keeps the steady pace which was introduced during ‘The True Sin’ and the beefy sound is great. Guttural vocals and powerful instruments really hit hard in the intro and the song lays on the heavy death metal groove before the blasting resumes, blowing everything away in its path. With a real sense of urgency and chaos to it, the track is just as intense as the others and the power in its groove laden slam moments is unreal, a real powerhouse of a performance.
“Colossal Vortex” closes the EP and it turns out that it is an Internal Suffering track. Keeping with the theme of the original, Visceral Throne retain the sheer ferocity of the track from the off. With the lightning quick delivery and powerfully harsh vocals over the thunderous riffs and blasts, it rips through everything in its path with great speed and the overwhelming crushing feeling is delivered perfectly. Even when it slows into the slam section, it still retains the ferocity you’d expect of the original, making for a great cover.
Overall, this release is the embodiment of intensity. Sure, the drums aren’t to my liking, the sound is rather grating, but the speed at which they are played at is ridiculous. Powerful blasts, crushing riffs and spot on vocals, Visceral Throne are capable of so much more and if this is a sign of things to come, I eagerly await the follow up to this release.
(7.5/10 Fraggle)
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