Horrified – Descent Into Putridity
You know what, now and then we like to just lean back around here and listen to something with full expectations of what it has to offer. No secrets, no surprises, just something that tears and is completely open about its method of tearing. Some flesh removed from your eardrums, sir? Yes, please, that will be fine, that’s adequate. So when we came across Horrified, a straight death metal act from out of the United Kingdom, we expected what we received. Death metal in essence. Death metal in simplicity. Death metal as death metal, no further derivations or random tags tossed about to make sense out of a monster. This monster is completely fulfilled in being what it is, in fact it will probably remain this way. Sometimes, well, that’s fine, provided the band in question has the ability to hold their nerve for enough tracks that, one, we don’t get bored with it, and two, don’t mind listening again. For death metal, that becomes increasingly difficult in the modern market with Bandcamp pages appearing every day, poor fobs still holding onto Myspace for some Goddamn reason, and MP3 files bootlegged like dandelion spawn in the winds. Weeds, friends, weeds everywhere, and they must be plucked and destroyed.
Horrified is no such weed, it is a different type of creature, a single-celled organism that can adapt and spread itself without reason for evolving beyond these capabilities. It has no need for these things called limbs to move, it thrives on the most basic of processes. But unlike other single-celled creatures, it covers itself in an indestructible outer shell, a malleable skin that is impervious to kvlt. Horrified are basic, but in their basic they excel. Once you begin Descent Into Putridity, if you’re privy to death metal, there is absolutely no difficulty accepting what it is. You’re immediately within their music because it’s simple. All the structures you expect are there, no frills, no streamers, no party hats, this is like a birthday party with just one thing, that Goddamn cake. Doesn’t even need candles, who cares how old it is?
See, most bands try to pull off what everyone else has done, and they fail miserably. It’s easy to do, because when everything’s been done, further repetition can kill. The new fans and the fervent fools remain, though, never admitting they’ve heard it before, staying within the miasma of endless reiteration. For us, that’s never enough, if something’s coming with the usual, that usual needs to excel in an unusual way, which Descent Into Putridity largely does. Horrified have all the right stuff together; great, simple riffs, drums that blast when they need to but don’t rely on it, and harsh, tearing vocals that are reminiscent of Impetigo. It pounds, it grinds, it tears, it leaves nothing to be desired and at the same time provides nothing new. If you’re coming into this expecting a transformation into new life, you’re not going to find it. This is so primitive its one of the most ancient of creatures, but there’s a reason it continues to exist as is, it has no reason to do otherwise. Very rarely will you encounter death metal that presents itself purely, with no real alteration, and yet still gives you the inclination to punch something to see whether or not it bleeds.
Written by Stanley Stepanic
Horrified – Descent Into Putridity
Memento Mori
4.2 / 5
