Vomitor - Pestilent Death (Hell's Headbangers / Iron Bonehead)

I still remember buying Vomitor's 'Bleeding the Priest' when it came out (the one on Arsenal of Glory with the different cover and the 'Roar of War' demo as bonus, which seems to be considered a bootleg now), and feeling like I was travelling back in time to my early days of discovery of the Thrash and Death metal scenes. It was dirty, it was chaotic and it fucking ripped! It made me feel just as when I listened to the first Sodom and Destruction records. And that was an amazing feeling in 2002, when the explosion of Death Metal's comeback was yet to happen.

Now it's fifteen years later and these guys are still kicking ass despite their slow pace and absolute lack any intention to evolve. Or maybe it's precisely because of that? Well, to be honest, 'The Escalation' sounded slightly like an evolution, it was a bit more extreme than usual, it had faster parts, a bit more blastbeats ... As the cover suggested, it was closer to something like the early Morbid Angel. Also like Slaughter Lord stuff. It was great anyways, a very powerful record, just a bit different from the previous Vomitor stuff.

How about 'Pestilent Death'? Well, easy thing. Once again, it's vicious, it's savage, it's sharp and it fucking rips. It's also full of absolutely amazing RIFFS! In some way, this record goes back to the pre-'The Escalation' Vomitor, with a preference for very early Sodom, Destruction and Slayer fueled evil and headbanging Metal. There's still place for slightly more Death Metal'ish influences for sure, but the Thrashing vibe is definitely taking the lead. ​

Maybe even more than ever. Death Dealer and Horror Illogium are total maniacs when it comes to writing some of the most possessed and old-schooled Metal you can get nowadays. I love everything Death Dealer does, from his way of playing/punishing the guitar, the pounding open riffs,  the shrieking slides and the King-esque solos, to that way of almost spitting vocal lines and his top Metalized screams. But that sort of battle between guitars that happens when those two demons get together is absolutely titanesque. I get the impression they have worked a lot more into the actual groove and cohesion of their lines this time. I'm also surprised of how well H.I. adapted to Vomitor given how far he is here from his work for Portal. 

​Another great point of thie record is the way Mr. Hellcunt blasts the skins, with that linear and barbaric rhythm that fits so well in their simplicity with the guitars. I'm not saying he changed a lot his style, but for some reason it sounds tighter and fucking aggressive. It might be how they captured the drum sound, because this very well could be the best drum sound Vomitor ever had. 

However, and despite the more simplistic and primitive songs, the production is a bit less chaotic and cleaner. Don't get this in a wrong way. I'm (obviously) not saying they sound like a Metalcore band now, and all of the instruments still sound fucking raw and analog as fuck. But you can better distinguish every detail, and that helps getting dragged into the groove even more easily. The man behind the board this time was Mr. Aphotic Mote from the Portal horde, who recorded and mixed everything in his studio, which probably made everything a lot more simple now that his bandmate Horror Illogium also plays guitars for Vomitor. 

I'm not spending much more time on this, as it's pretty straight-forward and I think I mentioned all that needs to be said. 'Pestilent Death' is a total and absolute banger that will catch you like an iron fist and force you to headbang for its 32 minutes until you loose your head. And the presentation basically gathers everything you would expect for this type of Extreme Metal: inverted crosses, skeletons and blood. What can be more Metal than that picture of the motorbike inside the fire circle on the inner-sleeve? Ugh!

www.hellsheadbangers.com
​www.ironbonehead.de