Ah, Vomitor, Aussies with all the natural subtlety and reserve of their countrymen removed. And of course we wouldn’t have it any other way. Pestilent Death is their fourth full length but it’s been around six years since The Escalation, which kinda shocked me when I checked. Thankfully not much has changed; from the off, the opener The Tremolation is the full on, bloody thrashing metal of death you want from Vomitor. Knuckles raw, vocals spat this is down in the primal swamp stuff with primitive but great riffs dragging the songs up from the muck.

If you’ve never heard them before, think that sound on the cusp of when Hellhammer turned into Celtic Frost and you’re about there. Just with better production – not that I want you thinking this is some pristine, polished sound here. Far from it. What I mean is the sound is just about spot on for Vomitor and their wonderful dirt. The drums have depth, the riffs saw away, the vocals snarl just below the headline sound, the lead breaks screech away like a razor.

No there is nothing innovative here, and sometimes the riff might seem a touch familiar briefly, but so what. This is about guts and blood and banging your head until it breaks through the wall. Listen to the sheer malevolence and basic riff of ‘Abracadabra’ pummelling away until you get all ties to safety ripped away and are just going into the current. Or maybe the the catastrophe ballet of ‘Tremendous Insane’ which applies some over the top speed metal Speedtrap-esque slicing to a great riff and a chaotic lead break and scream which just piles in through until it breaks out the other side.

Seven songs, just over half an hour. Perfect length for this kind of stuff. Just long enough to give you a bone breaking beat down rather than put you in a coma. It really is like this or sod off kind of music, no fucks given and frankly I can’t help that it puts an evil grin on my face.

Primitive, brutal, insane. Great.

 (8/10 Gizmo)

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https://vomitor-australia.bandcamp.com/album/pestilent-death