Slaughtered for Snuff

And again we go with another somewhat buried Dutch death metal offering. Almost 20 years have passed since its release, but it sounds as if it could've been released these last five. Does that say something about the evolution of brutal death metal as a genre? Yeah, it probably does ...

Listening to this, there is one name that comes to mind immediately, and that is Brodequin. The frantic down-tuned riffing, undecipherable gutturals and a drummer doing his thing with all the sensibility of a pneumatic jackhammer cavorting with a Gatling gun, it all brings to mind that near legendary trio of ruffians. It's relentless, savage and fucking heavy, with no room for subtle nuance or melody whatsoever. Intense this is for sure, but it is also kinda one-dimensional, as if this cd only consists of one long song. Now, for me, that is not a big deal in any way, I like it fast and utterly brutal, but I can imagine that for those with more refined tastes, this could be a bit much. However, being the musical shaven ape that I am, I think this is fine. What's not to like about a Brodequin clone with some Mortician sprinkles on top? The production is top-notch, by the way, keeping proceedings brutal and on point, yet sounding pretty natural. Some more guitar and bass wouldn't have hurt, but it's effective for sure.

And while I can definitely dig the remorseless delivery and demented intensity of the music, the lyrics and concept on here do cause me to frown a bit. It's the usual killing women shtick, and while I do not mind violent and gory subject matter, this stuff has picked up a laughable incel angle throughout the years, becoming kinda pathetic and sad. Further there are a few of the almost obligatory movie samples that seldom add anything, although the one from "House III" did bring back some nice memories of a raucous horror movie night from my late teens, so you see, not all these movie samples bug me.

This is a short blast of utterly brutal and bludgeoning death metal, sure to please all into Brodequin, Internal Suffering, Cadavoracity and other bands in that style. If that stuff makes your engine purr, you can't go wrong with Massmurder.