Hit to the Gore

Having been around for roughly a decade, Bloody Redemption swept into the scene from Slovakia in 2017 with their debut full-length and began a five-year pattern by giving us a follow up this year. Hit To The Gore is our latest dish, coating on feelings just as the name expresses. If that’s not enough, a gruesome artwork compliments this filthy brand of death metal. Packaged all together, we’re in for an obvious gory ride.

Despite what this may lead us to expect, Hit To The Gore is not simply a dash of Cannibal Corpse worship. Instead, things are refined under a far cleaner umbrella, with nods towards an intricate style. Nowhere would I call this a “progressive death metal” album, but there’s some potential that’s realized beyond the traditional, brutal, and raw formulas. The guttural vocals and dense tones are certainly still very much present, though, if only the secondary feature.

So it may be more accurate to say this is in line somewhere between mid-era Death, Hooded Menace, Electrocution, and a touch of Suffocation. Lots of higher, dissonant lead guitars wail over the deeper, chuggier chords for most of the solos. The title track even precedes this with what almost feels like a breakdown, certainly an unexpected trait. "Vultures Waiting" also injects a fair number of grooves, laying on the general aesthetic early on. If there’s one thing the band certainly has, it’s energetic chops.

If nothing else, Bloody Redemption know how to cook up a solid taste of the style with a slight ear for tighter construction. Admittedly, things can feel a little too clean at times, particularly with the vocals diving down into the “gutturals meet polished” feel that contrasts in a slightly awkward way. Perhaps this is a grower record, as there’s a lot of advanced writing that doesn’t stick too much, but still has plenty of replay value. Certainly, something that I’m glad I heard.

Originally written for Metalegion Magazine