Various Artists
Gore Metal Feature: The Six Pack of Sickness

October 2003
Released: 2003, Various
Rating: 0.0/5
Reviewer: JP

One significant component of heavy metal over time has been the willingness and desire by bands to artistically push all boundaries of sonic and lyrical extremity. This drive to keep music on the (b)leading edge of taste by embracing a philosophy of total deconstruction of conventional musical, lyrical and societal values, has lead to the small but vibrant and united genre sometimes known as Gore Metal. Originally a small sub-set of Death Metal, this most extreme of styles continues to thrive in the underground where fans seek the latest in the most extreme bands. These fans who revel (to a degree) in the shock value, horror and humour of these artists, continue to provide a small audience and I am going to take a look at six recent CD’s by very extreme bands; Gorelord, Inhume, Macabre, Sublime Cadaveric Decompostion, Waco Jesus and Wurdulak. These bands are not necessarily all gore or shocking but do generally fall into the extreme category. These reviews are for our more experienced extreme listeners and readers and the higher reviews will probably not reflect more conventional tastes: meaning proceed at your own risk!



Please note these bands do not necessarily reflect the taste, attitudes or opinion of all the staff at Metal-Rules.com and younger readers are cautioned before buying or listening to these releases.





Gorelord - Zombie Suicide Part 666

Label: Season of Mist | Released: 2002 | Rating: 3.5/5

Classic death metal from Norway, Gorelord’s second album is still essentially a one man band founded by guitarist Fredibalo. Nine cuts of solid, fast death metal and two demo bonus tracks make for a great 40 minutes. Reminiscent of faster Obituary at times, there is power and groove in the songs which are scattered with the occasional sample.

The songs are catchy, the vocals inhuman…everything a good DM CD should be.





Inhume - In For the Kill

Label: Osmose | Released: 2003 | Rating: 3/5

The speed and brutality are certainly there in the second release from Holland’s Inhume. There is certainly more of a punk-inspired speed than some of their peers with 16 songs clocking in at a mere 32 minutes! There is only one song that breaks the three-minute mark as the band to prefer to blast away at inhuman speed. The production is quite thin and the mix is trebly overall taking away from the guitar crunch and bottom end heaviness. The lyrics need improvement as it is unclear whether tracks like ‘Bowel Movement’ and ‘Bitch Redecoration’ are supposed to be funny or not. They fit perfectly on the Osmose roster and border more on grindcore than traditional death metal.





Macabre-Murder Metal

Label: Season of Mist | Released: 2003| Rating: 4/5

I never really got into Macabre for some reason but as of hearing this album I am going to revisit their back catalogue which spans 15 years. Murder Metal is the band’s 10th release. Macabre is by far the most musically accessible and unique of the extreme bands reviewed in this feature. In reality the music itself is not all that extreme but the mix of harsh vocals and morbid tales of true crime fit the bill. The band continues on with a mix of hints of jazz, thrash, Black metal riffing in parts, a good dose of speed, technical proficiency and the quirky nursery rhyme cadence of parts of the vocals. Decent guitar work with solos and fantastic production by Neil Kernon make this a great sounding album. Most of the songs are short with the exception of the last cut ‘Fritz Haarman Der Metzger’ which is sung entirely in German and is almost 13 minutes long! Macabre are one of the few bands that can truly claim to be unique.





Sublime Cadaveric Decompostion - II

Label: Osmose | Released: 2003| Rating: 3.5/5

Following a number of splits and a self-titled debut SCD have released the sophomore effort simply titled ‘II’. First off, I’m not sure If I got a censored promo copy or something but all 22 tracks all titled ‘XX’. Odd. Was it done on purpose for a minimalist feel, a lack of originality or creativity? I’m not sure. 22 tracks clocking in at 32 minutes with only four songs reaching the two-minute mark. Two ‘songs’ are under one minute each. This release is not so much about song-craft, writing, or even playing well…but veers dangerously close into Anal Cunt’s joke territory, with bursts of noise being defined as songs. At AC has the sick and hilarious/shocking song titles…SDC doesn’t even have that going for them. Musically the songs are all blasted out at top-speed with a mix of ultra-low guttural vocals like Demilich and a juxtaposed by the occasion higher pitched scream. The simple songs are surprisingly short and catchy because they take one or two simple ideas and build a fast, short song around that. The unreadable logo and gross cover finds SDC doing the genre of extreme death and gore justice.





Waco Jesus - Filth

Label: Morbid| Released: 2003| Rating: 3/5



Vying with The Meatshits (and a small, select handful of others) Waco Jesus are competing for sickest band on the planet honours. The cover is absolutely vile (real or not) depicting a close-up some-sort of anal-intestinal-abortion-eruption. Pretty sick. My copy came without lyrics, perhaps fortunately because, judging the sexually violent, shocking song titles maybe I don’t want to read them! Actually, who am I kidding, I do want to read them but I can’t help be mildly repulsed by the violent, homophobic and misogynistic titles.



This 25 minute album has ten cuts most of them in the 2.5 minute range. This band seems to rely on shock value for notoriety because the music is not THAT extreme. It really is quite conventional and well-done death metal. The songs are quick but not super fast…the vocals are totally raw and deep but most the worst I’ve ever heard. The songs are catchy, brutal and ugly reminding of many other second or third tier American death metal bands that one might find on the Unique Leader label or in the old days Wild Rags or JL America. The production is a bit murky and thick and the songs while heavy still have some decent groove to them. FILTH is a fitting title for the second CD by this American three-piece. And you thought you had issues!





Wurdulak - Severed Eyes of Possession

Label: Season of Mist | Released: 2002| Rating: 4/5



Probably the blackest of the six bands in this feature, long standing member of the extreme music scene has returned with a second full-length CD (fourth release overall) bringing along Iscariah (Immortal), Maniac (Mayhem) and a few other veterans along for the ride. Again a nun gets it in the mouth on the cover with a very similar but more graphic version of the debut album cover.



Great production and the band is a touch heavier and a shade slower and more diverse in it’s song writing. The intro to ‘Unified Global Misanthropy’ is very atmospheric and well done setting the tone for themed-paced hateful song. There are a few more hints of death metal as well and the lyrics are slightly more sophisticated and only marginally less anti-religion, but more anti-humanity overall. Wurdulak are certainly the most diverse and atmospheric band in this feature with the most varied and interesting arrangements.