It's been six years since Atlanta noise-makers WITHERED last delivered an album and they're not the same group anymore. A significant shift in the line-up means that only fifty-percent of the "Dualitas" era band has returned for this follow-up, and being so long out of the spotlight could easily have dented their confidence. Legions of young Death Metallers have risen and fallen in the intervening years and let's face it, they're not the sprightly upstarts that kicked the underground in the teeth with their debut album anymore. It's impressive then that despite the onset of middle-age, they're still as remorselessly bleak as ever. If you've been waiting and hoping for a return to form then fret not, WITHERED circa 2016 are still a force to be reckoned with.

"Grief Relic" is, for want of a more original description, brutal. It's a confrontational slab of muscular hate, powered by blast beats, guttural roars and pulverising guitar riffs. There are no hooks or quiet melodic parts to lure in the uninitiated, it's just straight up musical destruction from start to finish. It isn't so much a case of being thrown into the deep end as it is being thrown into shark infested waters with both feet slashed open while wearing a sign that says "delicious with sea lion." Strangely enough, it's also weirdly atmospheric. They have a talent for working a melancholic edge onto proceedings and "Grief Relic" comes with a distinctly blackened, end of the world vibe. "Feeble Gasp" is probably the best example of this, a terrifying glimpse into a whirlwind of madness, punctuated by high-pitched screams and the sort of roars that can't possibly come from a human throat without demonic intervention. "A Realm Of Suffering" is similarly frenzied at first, then slows down into a Doom-laden slog through a swamp of oppression. It's not a respite by any means but its SABBATH-flavoured Death Groove adds a nice twist to the onslaught.

Elsewhere, they swing the sledge hammer of Blackened Death with reckless abandon in the ace "Distort, Engulf," a song that comes with the nastiest introduction you're likely to hear before Christmas. The dual vocals are used to great effect, engulfing the listener in gravel-throated anger before plunging into a tornado of bass-destroying hatred. "To Glimpse Godliness" meanwhile is a haunting finale, a slow and sombre riff meandering into the sort of racket that'll leave the neighbours questioning your life choices and investing in noise insulation.Such merciless nihilism makes "Grief Relic" an engaging journey through human misery. WITHERED have got through line-up changes and years in the wilderness with an excellent extreme-metal album. It's not for the faint of heart but aficionados of music that's burnt to a crisp on the outside and raw and bloody in the middle won't want to miss it.

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