Misanthropic - "Festering Nihilistic Hatred" cassette
Iron Fortress release
No frills, just kills!!!!! Arizona's MISANTHROPIC bringing the heat with their debut album. 40 minutes of SICK AF death metal!! Featuring Xander Bridge (Nuclear Remains, Eternal, Blood Loss, etc) on drums. Everything this kid touches is fucking gold!!! And this album is no exception. WOW!
Metal Archives review:
In a sea of hundreds of death metal bands. It can be quite difficult to find anything worth your time and attention. However, there can be a time where countless bands break away from the horde of bland bands. And truly manage to make great-ass death metal in modern times. And I’m happy to say that I’ve found another one that fits that category. Misanthropic. An Arizona death metal band formed in 2021. So they are very new to the scene. I discovered this band with their EP “Malicious Proscession of Rotten Flesh”. Which blew me away. Because it contained so many good aspects of classic death metal into one band. So when their debut album dropped I was quite excited. And it exceeded my expectations even more. “Festering Nihilistic Hatred” is a fantastic old-school death metal album.
This album is 8 tracks (minus the cover and the intro track) of pure OSDM carnage. Hitting almost every aspect of old-school death metal in terms of influence. While also bringing in elements of brutal death metal and death doom into the mix. Making for a very varied and dynamic listen. Think of bands like Gorguts, Autopsy, Incantation, and Morbid Angel. Mixed in with some Dying Fetus and Suffocation. That is what this album is. A straightforward beatdown from start to finish. With infectious riffs and breakneck percussion. It also has good production, vocals, and atmosphere. The cover of Black Sabbath’s “Electric Funeral” is also a great surprise. Because they do it so well.
Let’s talk about the riffing. Unlike most modern bands. The memorable structures and riffs hit you almost immediately. This album is littered with extremely aggressive riffs and palm-muted chugging. Reminded me of bands like Gorguts and Morbid Angel with how evil they sound. They balance out this barrage of intensity with some fantastic death-doom melodies and lead work. Bridging into the death doom territory with bands like Incantation and Autopsy. You know what I’m talking about. Those slow-bending grooves and ominous riffs. That is drenched in sludge and decay. They are played so damn well and sound evil as fuck. The occasional lead the band throws in alongside these doom sections reminds me a lot of Dismember.
The tremolos and rhythm sections are ungodly tight. Grooving and flowing excellently. Each song contains something new. One song might be more doomy like “Organ Harvester”. Which starts off slowly with ominous slow riffing and drumming. While others are more straightforward like “G.Y.F.F.O”. They’re thrashy, filled with energy, and are filled with aggression. What I also love is the inclusion of these obnoxiously heavy Dying Fetus grooves. Especially on the song “Necrotic Embalment”. That song fucking rules. You also get some slow chugging that is very much along the lines of old-school Suffocation. The guitar work is just top-notch overall. It’s filled with everything good and tasty about OSDM and OSBDM. The songwriting is amazing and each song is unique.
Vocally this album is also gnarly as fuck. The two bands that come to mind are Pestilence and Gorguts. When it comes to the vocal influences. I also had no idea their vocalist/ guitarist Logan Ryan sang on the debut Nuclear Remains EP. So it caught me off guard to hear him singing in the vein of Pestilence and Gorguts. Regardless the dude has an aggressive and hateful voice. He has that old-school raspy snarl that a Pestilence fan would love. It’s as thrashy and as OSDM as it gets. The dude's guitar work is also very good. His vocals and guitar playing are visceral and relentless. He also enunciates really well and does a good job of going between the screams and grunts.
The drumming of this album is also fantastic. One of the tightest and most aggressive performances I’ve heard from a modern band in a minute. Each song is filled with tons of OSDM barrages and blast beats. Making sure to throw in some Incantation doomy drum sections as well. Which does a good job of balancing the intensity with the atmosphere. The double bass and constant use of great fill are also really gnarly. The production quality of this record also elevates the drums. It makes them all the more aggressive and fun to listen to. The drums flow well and groove tightly alongside the other instruments.
Finally, let’s cover the production as a whole. This is a good blend of modern and old-school production in death metal. The guitars have that classic crunchy Incantation tone. Making each bend and pinch harmonic sound sinister as hell. When it comes to OSDM I always appreciate when the mix shows off the bass guitar. The bass sounds fantastic on this record. As for the vocals and drums, they sound massive and booming. Everything sounds nice and raw but not too raw. It’s got a good mix overall and doesn’t drown out anything. Overall this album sounds utterly filthy and punchy.
Misanthropic did a great job with this debut record. It is all killer and has zero filler. It’s straightforward and simplistic in nature but goddamn does it have so much flavor. If you want an OSDM band that blends all different types of death metal. From death doom, brutal death metal, and OSDM with some thrash as well. This is for you. These Arizona gentlemen have something good going for them and I cannot wait to see where they go from here. So check this album out and get a CD if possible. I highly recommend this album. Good stuff.
FFO: Skeletal Remains, Pestilence, Gorguts, Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Autopsy, Morbid Angel, Incantation, Nuclear Remains