PUTRICID were formed by college students in 1989 and they remained active until 1994. The Canadian Death Metal outfit released two demos during their active period. Both demos were remastered in 2021 and, including a bonus track, now released as "Suppuration" via Chinese label Awakening Records which have a number of Thrash, Speed, Power, and Death Metal bands among their current roster. The album has a length of almost 50 minutes.

PUTRICID were a Death Metal band during the early 90s in Canada that were only known among the die-hard fans of the deepest Death Metal underground. Their music did not make it to an official record release, yet their demo material is now being re-released almost 30 years later. To my knowledge, the band did not re-form, so this release may only serve to establish Awakening Records. However, it might be also a treat for all those who still remember PUTRICID. Technically speaking, it is not even a re-issue as both demos were never released in this format.

Speaking about the music, "Suppuration" has all the attributes of Death Metal of this time period: rawness, spine-chilling sound, aggressive guitar riffing, hammering drums, crunching bass lines, and deep lying growling vocals. The title song has a very direct and simple riffing, dominating bass lines, and no lead guitar contributions at all. "Suppuration" was also part of the second demo and is on the album for a second time, but in a poor quality where especially the drums sound bad.

"Lament Configuration" starts at insane pace, but includes a mid-tempo break with a doom-laden lead guitar solo. There are a few twists and turns in rhythm towards the end of the track. "Saprophagy" starts dark at mid-tempo with a few early SEPULTURA vibes in the riffing. PUTRICID do not use blast-beats overly extensive, but include a few attacks as well as some double-bass parts in "Saprophagy". It is a cool song due to the contributing lead guitar solo. As mentioned, there is a bit of an overlap in both demos and "Saprophagy" comes as "Saprophage" at a later stage of the album, but with a muddier sound and worse quality than "Saprophagy".

"Fatal Incantation" is a mid-tempo song with a short break at head-banging tempo. The track changes pace throughout with the lead guitar solo played at up-tempo and the final part of the song played at frantic pace. As the first demo continues, PUTRICID let all hell break loose with "Prostration" and "Putricid" having large parts at crazy speed. "Prostration" is a constant back and forth between mid-tempo and blast-beat driven hammering parts. "Putricid" is a pummeling track right from the start driven by the relentless drumming. The vocals are supported by higher pitched background vocals. The final track on both demos is "Doxologie" and the track is a mix between a fast hammering and slow, spine-chilling parts with Doom inspired guitars and additional vocals straight coming from the abyss.

"Rofocale's Revenge" seems to be a track that had not been released on the demos. The vocals sound a bit different here with the growls being more around the medium to higher end of the guttural range. The second demo contains with "Lost Soul" and "Black Witchery" two new songs that have not been part of the first demo where "Lost Soul" is an intro and "Black Witchery" is a mid-tempo song. However, while the sound quality of the first demo is modest, it is a very poor quality of the second demo.

After listening to "Suppuration", I am wondering what is the point of "reissuing" two almost 30 years old demos at a poor quality? Those who remember PUTRICID will have managed to own their releases years ago.https://putricid.bandcamp.com/