Obscure & Obscene Gods

Let me go on record by saying I am an enormous fan of the contemporary New Jersey black/death scene. The albums from the late 2010s onward are some of the most exciting, engrossing death/black releases coming from a tight-knit regional collective. But this is the first time I've found myself disappointed by one of their releases.

Altar of Gore is for all purposes a solo project by Tom G. Warrior, whose storied background includes a variety of extreme metal bands like Death Fortress, Massive Retaliation, Siege Column, DSS, and Jaws of Hades. Frequent bandmate/collaborator Joe Aversario provides mixing and mastering assistance; one of the hallmark attributes of this scene (which is really only like five ridiculously prolific guys) is their focus on mid-fi production that alternately favors the mid-range or the low-range depending on release, unifying the scene without sterilizing the sound.

Altar of Gore's first demo from 2018 and multiple features on the New Jersey Metal Attack compilation series hinted toward a lower-fi-than-normal take on riffy death metal. Kind of like a better-played Von, the demo was short, crunchy, and to-the-point in a wonderfully direct way, which was bolstered by its 24-minute runtime and alternation of tight tracks with longer, almost Bolt Thrower-esque compositions. In contrast, Obscure and Obscene Gods is seven tracks in a full 37 minutes. With the exception of the intro track, nothing is less than five and a half minutes long. This makes each track sound a lot slower compared to the quicker riff-fest on the demo, and the mid-fi production actually ends up hurting the album through muddying the already same-sounding riffs

Now death metal doesn't always have to do something new and, arguably, the New Jersey scene is about doing specific things really really well instead of heavily innovating. However, Altar of Gore ends up sounding like over a half hour of the same plodding death metal. There's not much here that I'm not more interested in receiving from the demo - or the other New Jersey bands. However, there is exceptional point that is worth checking: "Black Stone Urn" absolutely nails that aforementioned Von aesthetic. Tom G. Warrior's hoarse bark shoot off into the murky Nunslaughter-esque riffs, and the steadily pummeling percussion really gets that into a groove.

This is the first misstep in an otherwise exceptional and extraordinary scene. If you're interested in this kind of sound, then check out Massive Retaliation's Arms of the War God first. This sound is done much more strongly there.