Insidious Disease are a band that have for some reason completely bypassed me which has left me incredulous considering they are a supergroup playing old school death metal featuring members and ex-members of some very high profile extreme metal bands. I should be all over this band like covid germs at a super spreader event. The group formed in 2004 and After Death is the second album from the band coming ten years after their debut Shadowcast in 2010. This definitely falls into the supergroup category as you have Marc Grewe (ex-Morgoth) on vocals, Silenoz (Dimmu Borgir) and Cyrus (Susperia) on guitars, Shane Embury (Napalm Death and a billion other bands) on bass and Tony Laureano (ex-Malevolent Creation & ex-Nile) on drums.
On the music front this is very meat and potatoes, no frills, old school death metal with the emphasis on riffs and groove. The songs are generally chunky mid-paced slabs of death metal goodness such as Betrayer and Invisible War whilst songs such as An End Date With The World and Born Into Bondage kick up the pace and allow Tony to really kick into gear on the drums. The speed also drops to a crushing doomy pace on songs such as on album closer Secret Sorcery. As to be expected with the performers in this band the musicianship is top tier stuff. The vocals by Marc are a bit different to what he used to do with Morgoth in their heyday with him approaching a more hardcore inspired style rather than the usual growls and gutturals, the guitar playing by Silenoz and Cyrus is solid riffing and some tasty solos, Shane lays down a solid rhythm section on the bass whilst Tony holds it altogether on the drums showing why he is one of the most in-demand session drummers in extreme metal.
It’s not a secret that I am a sucker for this groovy old school death metal style and After Death certainly delivers the goods on that front. It is a simple and straightforward death metal approach with little in the way of dynamics but more often than not with this style less is more. Solid groovy death metal which punches straight in the face. 8/10
This one dropped with little fanfare. It just kind of appeared, like that turd your dog unexpectedly leaves on the mat. You just get up one day and there it is. Completely out of the blue. With the turd you just clear it away, wash up and hope that the hound will learn to go in the garden. Maybe that analogy isn’t the best because this album by the South Wales death metal duo is not a shit release by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it’s a nasty, heavy bastard. If it were a turd on the mat, you’d need a JCB to move it.
The last recordings from the cadavering sodomizers arrived in 2016 with Verses of Putridity. Since that time, there have been a few line-up changes, with Gavin Davies and Ryan Howes remaining to spread the sodomy. At not far over the 25-minute mark, this isn’t an album on a slow burn. There’s a surprise. Instead, the release kicks off with the rapid-fire drumming of Cave Of Despair. It’s an absolute cacophony of brutality. The drum sound is huge, Davies’ huge paws slamming the drums with all the subtlety of Donald Trump at a Miss America pageant. Howes slices and shreds, he riffs with ferocity and adds to the carnage with his guttural croaks. Extinguishing The Spark Of The Divine has all the tact of a sledgehammer to the back of the head, whilst the chainsaw effect of Reanimated Atrocity is just chilling.
Morbid Tales Of Mutilation is heavier than anything the band have done before. Much heavier. The wall of intense death metal is unstoppable. It’s in your face, muscular and extremely aggressive. It’s old school death metal with a modern twist. As always, the song titles encourage beauty, delicacy, and romance. Take Force Fed Razorwire as the loving example. Who wouldn’t be wooed by that beautiful ditty? Maybe one for the Christmas stocking for your gran? But all jesting apart, this is full-frontal trauma. A grotesque reworking of Cannibal Butcher concludes the release. It’s short, it’s brutal and it may just prove that on occasion, that turd can be polished after all. 8/10
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