EXTERNAL MORTIFICATION is a Death Metal band based out Rotterdam, The Netherlands. "Awakening of the Dead" is the band's debut EP, and contains four tracks.

The thirty second intro "The Awakening" leads to "Rising from the Grave." Though the intro is brief, it definitely sets a sinister tone of what is to come. What follows is a mid-tempo, old-school Death Metal song with deep, guttural vocals and guitars that take the lead in defining the sound. Heaviness is favored over furious instrumentation that is often the case in this genre. The GRAVE cover, "Extremely Rotten Flesh," seems to fit well with the overall theme present on the album. It's begins as a slow, grinding and weighted song with very minimal vocals, until about a third of the way in where it picks up speed and energy. Shifting to another riff that slows things down a bit, double bass drumming comes into play along with a frantic guitar lead.

"Dissected by Zombies" is the closing track on the EP. The pattern of a slower opening to a faster main riff continues here, along with completely unintelligible vocal growls. Near the end of the track, the music drops and what you can hear sounds exactly as the title reads, suggesting a pack of walkers on the prowl. I think it's clear that this EP is about as traditional Death Metal as you are going to hear these days. The reduced pacing allows for a lower bottom end and more sounds devoid of much melody. Instead the impact seems to be on the utterly evil and hopeless feeling that the music produces. In that regard the EP does a good job of advancing this. But, you are not going to be bowled over with any uniqueness or the pushing of any genre boundaries.Final Verdict: 6/10