Deep within the sprawling urban wasteland of the Jersey City's filth grew a scene of displaced aggression, a scene that grew within the shadows and back alleys that soon spilled into the local bars and music venues. United by a love for loud music, heavy riffs and raw distortion with inhuman vocals, this love for metal would grow and give birth to one such band ALTAR OF GORE. Disillusioned by the current state of the metal scene’s obsession with the various aspects of occultism and the imagery that came with it, “Acolyte Of The Foul Ones” had decided to take a different approach. In 2017 he formed the one man act ALTAR OF GORE that had taken a look at much of the same concepts that unimpressed him but articulating this through a different lens.The carnal aspects of flesh and blood rather than the supernatural. 

With a previous full-length album and few other releases prior to joining his current label, “Acolyte Of The Foul Ones” has attracted quite a bit of attention and many have been looking forward to his latest release. So let's take a look first hand and see what raw elements of brutality await. Coated in a vile raw blackened waste with a stench of death that is heavy and brutal, ALTAR OF GORE is back with their latest and second full length album “Litanies of the Unceasing Agonies”. Released on May 17, 2024 under the label Nameless Grave Records is seven solid tracks that make up 37:33 minutes of raw brutality. Man, at first glance this album art screams early 90’s underground death and black metal album art. Simply drawn, black and white with some form of gore induced ritualistic scene. Much like the art of old, its raw simplicity van gives me an idea of what's to come. Black and white with red being the only color for the blood. A cloaked being cutting open someone as entrails and gore are everywhere within what looks like a torture chamber or crypt used for rituals. Candles and fire, gore and body parts. The logo is red in the top left corner. 

The opening "Inrtoduction" track is a simple thick and heavily distorted riff that breaks off into some squealing guitar licks in a raw breakdown before heading over heavy bass kicks. Simple drums form the time signature. This leads into the track “Excoriation Prayers” with the same tone but picking up a bit. The overall sound is very raw and thick in low tuned guitar riffs, inhuman low growls and simple blast beats. From time to time the guitar squeals over the sludge like brutality of death.Destined for the Pit starts out with the heavy distorted low tuned guitar riff that builds slightly with a simple yet effective chord progression. This chugs on for a bit over the basic drumming and low growls with a decent amount of reverb. A screeching guitar that rings out over the heavy sound breaks the thick brutal tone.

The thick overall sludge-like riffs and brutal chord progression that become broken up with screaming guitar riffs that have a raw coating of distortion and lots of reverb as the disgusting vocals that only add to that putrid sludge. The raw heavy distortions and reverb that corrode the putrid sludge that forms this brutal death tone. The mixing seems to fit but overall production value isn't that good. Giving a poor quality sound. Still for what it's worth, perhaps that was his take on the blackened influence on this sludge-like brutal death metal sound. But if you know ALTAR OF GORE, that is the sound I feel that he is going for, and it works. For “Acolyte Of The Foul Ones” I believe it is more of the raw sludge and brutality over top quality production. The sound of Brutal death in its most putrid form. Definitely can hear old school influences of original death metal influences as well.

Closing out the album, the track "Litanies of the Unceasing Agonies” starts out with a thick but simple sounding bass -like chord progression that builds into screaming feedback that rings out over a heavy chugging riff. That was a solid intro that added a bit of dynamic to the heavy brutal tones. The track soon picks up the pace before breaking back down into heavy slam riffs again. Some nice added guitar licks ring out in parts over the disgusting sludge of the track. A final riff carries out before fading off in distortion. Overall, the album is simple with slight variations from one track to the next. Heavy thick sludge undertones coat the overall rawness of slam death riffs and brutality of brutal death. You can hear elements of crust with the heavy distortions and reverb on everything that muddles it down to a raw and thick primitive form of death. For the simplicity of it all and raw sound that it forms, I'd say this would be a good album to add to the collection.