Caustic Vomit – Festering Odes to Deformity

December 2018 – Redefining Darkness Records/Unsigned

A half-hour demo is a surprise in most genres, but death/doom is no stranger to long records – particularly if they're practically funeral doom. Caustic Vomit were lucky enough to be noticed by Redefining Darkness, who issued the cassette version of their demo – and it's no surprise the label enjoyed what they heard, Festering Odes to Deformity being the catchiest and most memorable death/doom record I've heard in a while.

All three songs have good ideas, but Once Coffined Malformities is what every closer should aspire to be. An evocative soundscape, painting the picture of a smoking battlefield, with corpses strewn across like so many pock marks on diseased skin. Bombers scream distorted leads over rumbling tanks while vocal artillery booms in the distance. Their singer gives Antti from Demilich a run for his money, reaching oktavist levels of bass in his mantra-like performance.

Churning Bowel Tunnels shows the opposite side of Caustic Vomit, a dynamic mid tempo experiment in death/doom committing just the right amount of chromatic musical crimes. Their death metal side is well executed, ominous riffs spiced with pinch harmonics and sautéed in double bass make for a filling dish to be enjoyed with a side of buzzing, chaotic leads. The production may have burned the lower ends to a bloated mess, but that's to be expected from the small kitchen Caustic Vomit are cooking in.

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