Luring us into the haunted house of their minds, epically-named duo OLTRETOMBA, gets our attention right away with "The Horror (intro)" with down-tuned guitars that paint the walls with oozing dissonance. Evil Surf Rock riffs and a peculiar four-on-the-floor cow bell dominate "Her Eyes". Lucas Demon lets his terrifying growls seep into the background, his presence a malcontented poltergeist rattling cymbals and making walls bleed.

By the way, that cowbell I mentioned? That wasn't some one-and-done; it's a recurring feature as it's heard in "The Blade and the Hungry" and "Blue Devil". "Blue Devil" channels some fine Doom Metal in its opening with its repetitive before hitting the accelerator on the tempo and speeding wildly into the night off roads and even off dirt; it's a road trip through hell and the river Styx. Taking a minute to unwind, "Amputation (Arms and Legs)" has a gramophone crackling with old-timey songs from the 30s or 40s playing while the sound of blades being honed snikt-snikt-snikt in the background before the sound explodes like a bag of guts, and that brave little cowbell demands a spot amongst its more rough and tumble bandmates.

OLTRETOMBA is Death Metal crowdsurfing in a Punk moshpit. Riffs swarm like killer bees amongst echoes of drumbeats pulsating so fast they vibrate. The Horror-Figure del terrore is a less gritty follow up to OLTRETOMBA's debut The Death-Schierati con la morte; The Horror is just a little more refined, edges more defined, sharpened and free of burrs. Drums aren't as muffled, less riffs boiling over with stinking sludge. OLTRETOMBA have made some dark pact, that much is clear from their sound; it's not so much oppressive as it is pervasive with gristly chords weighed down like lead anchors. The bass a low-groaning gas motor in a machine that rumbles along, belching thick clouds of shredded notes in chaotic plumes.