Tales of Necrophilia

From the artwork to the production, Regurgitation's "Tales of Necrophilia" has everything the old school brutal death metal fan could ask for. Drenched in elements of horror and groove, the mid-scooped guitars and guttural vocals are somewhat reminiscent of fellow classic alumni Cannibal Corpse and Baphomet. The lyrics, as you can imagine from an album with this title, are the standard in such a genre: infanticide by immolation, torture, sexy time in graveyards, and mutilation in general, be it genital or otherwise. So all round good stuff where that's concerned. The riffing, however, has a nice contemporary feel to it, reminding me of bands like Disgorge (USA), Gorgasm, Dying Fetus, old school Carcass, and Broken Hope; with the drummer keeping pace beautifully.

The only real drawbacks from this album, which are very few, are as follows: the first one being that it feels as though it's one song too short. The seven songs (plus one instrumental, which has a runtime of less than a minute) are decent lengths, and run over 27 minutes collectively, but the album flows so well that it feels as though it's being cut short just a little too soon. However, that could be intentional, as it certainly does leave you wanting more, as any great album should. There is also once point during the opening track "Out of the Womb", where vocalist/bassist Brian Baxter screams over a breakdown riff, which unfortunately cuts a little too loud into the mix, somewhat spoiling the atmosphere that they had so masterfully built up. Thankfully, it isn't to a point that's unlistenable and is quickly forgiven as he actually attempts to enunciate, whereas other vocalists in the genre have merely slipped into the habit of just gargling (whilst having gone through the effort of composing lyrics), injecting their music with a shot of monotony. Luckily for us though, by the sheer musicianship and brutality, particularly between guitarists Tony & Ben, who swap solos magnificently which one another, this album has all the heaviness a brutal death metal fan could want, from tightly wound blast beats to 3/4 waltzes a la Suffocation.

As catchy as it is horrid, this album truly does deserve to be on the shelves of metalheads the world over and then some. And if old school '90s death metal is your preferred piece of quiche, then Regurgitation will sit right at home. From its clunking bass, fanatic drumming, old school riffage, evil gutturals, and groove, "Tales of Necrophilia" still proves to stand the test of time more than 20 years later.