Cerebral Rot – Excretion of Mortality (Review)

There has been a huge bulk of Death Metal bands during the last two or three years that claimed the very specific Old School sound. This lead to the fact of bands over bands that reminded of somewhat the same sound, yet some of those combos definitely stood out among the rest. One of which was Seattle OSDM abomination Cerebral Rot, claiming their position with their demo Cessation of Life already. The full-length debut Odious Descent Into Decay that followed in 2019 on 20 Buck Spin then moved attention toward probably one of the most disgusting combos actively participating in the US Death Metal scene. Going by the album title as well as the cover artwork it already becomes clear that this band forms a festering putrescence that urges you to utter “Ugh” or “Ew” pretty much any 10 seconds listening to their music, showcasing brilliantly executed Death Metal that follow the path of Autopsy worship.

The second full-length was announced with a proceeding promo EP tape “Spewing Purulence” that already contained the same-titled track as well as “Vile Yolk of Contagion.” The announcement couldn’t have been any better, I absolutely went for the groovy rhythm and the swampy sound on this tape, desperately waiting for the full-length to follow. Excretion of Mortality then arrived in June 2021 and fulfilled your most obnoxious nightmares, bringing you your beloved traits of Odious Descent into Decay while adding up some new flavour.

Cerebral Rot play Old School Death Metal in the nastiest vein you might be able to imagine. If you are into down to the bone Death Metal that forcibly drains your innards while you’re prompted to get rid of your limbs, you’re damn right over here. From mid-tempo Death Metal to brief Grind outbreaks, everything is served.

Especially the drums are an absolute highlight on this album. The rhythm on this release is so damn groovy that it catches anyone slightly interested in Death Metal. At several spots, you could even come up with a slight comparison to Death ‘n’ Roll – while only talking about the groove of the drums since the rest of the sound still remains full-blooded Death Metal. The production of the drums is as muddy as on the first full-length – which is a positive aspect since this is exactly the sound you want to hear on a release that is as stomach-twisting as this one.

The bludgeoning production of the drums is also what predominantly and first of all reminds of the Autopsy allusion that comes along especially with their full-length debut as well as the sophomore album – next to the overall Autopsy worship that oozes every second on these tracks. However, pointing at one of their evident inspirations seems to have slightly stepped into the background with Excretion of Mortality, since the immediate connection was no longer as prominent as before, giving even more room for personal development and a characteristic style.

Apart from that, the guitars still carry a very distinct Death Metal tone. However, the production on Excretion of Mortality is definitely the key aspect that separates it from its predecessor. Although the Death Metal riffing was the focus on Odious Descent into Decay, there were several thrashy riffs flashing through the swamp here and there. Because of the production that rather focused on the low tones, those riffs however sometimes got lost in the absorbing decays. On Excretion of Mortality, though, the high tones gained a little more freedom thus pointing out the thrashy riffs and fills primarily during the thousands of stops and goes on this album. This classy Death Metal trait that holds on to a very thrashy riff style at several points is absolutely amazing on this LP.

If you ever listened to any Cerebral Rot release you probably know that it is not necessary to get into detail about the vocals of Ian Schwab – the extremly low and hissing growls convince any time you listen into any of the releases of the Seattle quartet – sticking to the style of vocals we already knew from their debut, everything is done right to continue as before since this has been one of my favorite trademarks when listening to their music.

If you loved Odious Descent into Decay, you are probably going to fall for Excretion of Mortality. It feels that the band massively progressed from 1st to 2nd full-length. While their debut was often regarded as somewhat repetitive, especially this album doesn’t feel like that at all (and the overall runtime is even longer). The massive Autopsy worship was pushed into the background and the personal sound became even broader. Clearly one of the most significant Death Metal releases of 2021!