Repugnant

The brutal death metal scene often seems like an athletics tournament, as bands compete to be the fastest, the heaviest and the nastiest. With two absurdly extreme albums under their bloodstained belts already, NECROTICGOREBEAST belong in the upper echelons of the subgenre’s current wave, and while connoisseurs will doubtless be able to point to bands that out-blast, out-slam and out-retch the Canadians on some level, it is becoming increasingly difficult to think of anyone that does it all better.

“Repugnant” is an absolutely filthy piece of work. Disgustingly heavy, lyrically foul and yet sonically sparkling, it eschews the often overly compressed sonics of much brutal death metal in favor of a colossal, room-filling production. The end result could hardly be described as accessible, at least to the unconverted, but it has the potential to connect with a much wider audience than a lot of comparable releases. That audience will have to have strong neck muscles and strong stomachs, however.

NECROTICGOREBEAST are not in the business of compromising on conceptual unpleasantness, and “Repugnant” tells tales that are every bit as horrifying and gruesome as previous anthems “Flesh Eating Ejaculation” and “Leaking Stoma Intercourse”. From faces being ripped off without anesthesia, to disembowelment with a frozen turd, every one of these songs harbors unthinkable horrors, but delivered with enough conviction and wit to justify the obnoxiousness of it all.

Ultimately, NECROTICGOREBEAST make such a ferocious, violent racket that lyrics about world peace and feelings simply wouldn’t cut it. After a brief, restrained intro, the title track sets the tone for the next 31 minutes with a pulverizing, mid-paced groove. Vocalist John Mayer is belching himself inside out, as expected, but he sounds more focused and precise here, as his comrades build up a head of steam and explode with jaw-juddering precision. “Unsedated Face Removal” starts in staccato slam mode before unstoppable drummer JP Bouchard winds everything up to a psychotic frenzy. The song’s subject matter might suggest that NECROTICGOREBEAST have their tongues firmly in their cheeks, but the music backing up the flagrant gore-worship is no joke. Horribly dark and rhythmically ingenious, “Consensual Castration” is another gem, and one that comes with more of the ridiculous blastbeats that made previous albums so grimly exhilarating. Meanwhile, “Masturbated to Death” slips a few primitive, old-school riffs into the mix, while also slamming, blasting and pounding everything to a bloody pulp. The choking atmosphere and angular riffing of “Nail Clipper Circumcision” is as dark and twisted as any self-respecting song about mutilated genitalia should be, and “Frozen Feces Evisceration” is as brutish and swivel-eyed as is befitting for a song about being slit open with a crapsicle.

When NECROTICGOREBEAST released their debut album in 2019, it seemed unlikely that they would ever top it. They came close with 2021’s “Human Deviance Galore”, but “Repugnant” is where these sick fucks deliver on their vast potential. This will crush you, like a falling block of frozen shit, and you will love it.