BEGRIME EXEMIOUS is a blackened death metal act from Edmonton, Alberta. "Rotting In The Aftermath" is their fourth album to date and their first release since 2016's "The Enslavement Conquest." During this six-year period, they never stopped writing and refining their craft. "Rotting In The Aftermath" is BEGRIME EXEMIOUS at their absolute best. They added more death metal aspects to their sound, and in my opinion, they nailed it.

The first track, "Cruel Mistress," lets you know two things right off the bat; first, this isn't a super polished, squeaky clean album. These folks are not channeling BEHEMOTH. The production is raw and dirty. The second thing is that they are not messing around. This song is dynamic and bombastic despite the raw production. One vocalist provides death metal growls, while the other covers the black metal front. This interplay proves to be crucial to the success of the album as a whole.

"Breach The Stronghold," the album's second cut, goes for the jugular as it starts off powerfully and continues to build in intensity. The music is a bit muffled due to the production style, but it still rips. This is an angry driving force that demands recognition. I can only imagine how great this track would sound if it were slightly cleaner. There are also some definite callbacks to VENOM and MOTÖRHEAD.

"Regressive Divisions" starts with a scream and blast beats. Once the hook has been established, the vocalists trade lines with rapid-fire delivery. There are two well-timed "blechs" to look out for as well. Some nasty, grimy death metal riffs made my jaw drop more than once. The solo feels more than a little out of place, like they were losing control of the song, but then the hook returns to play it out.

"Galvanized (Like Nails)" starts off with an obvious BLACK SABBATH riff, then jumps right back into death metal territory. The vocal interplay on this track is spot on. It's a song that gets me pumped upon every listen. The hook is some classic death metal riffing with a thrash twist. It's quite addictive. The rest of the music is some fiery first-wave black metal that is an excellent counterpoint to the hook. There's a stellar arpeggio solo right near the track's end that should not be missed.

The album's final track, "Diseased Mankind," is more of a BLACK SABBATH tribute than the previous song's intro. It starts with a slow, sludgy OBITUARY-style intro that quickly devolves into a proto-metal hook. The lyrics are completely superfluous in that the vocalists simply repeat the title over and over for the song's entirety. The vocals became clean towards the end, which threw me for a loop. I'm not sure if this is some sort of a joke song or what, but I think the album would have been better without it.

Overall, there are more hits than misses on "Rotting In The Aftermath." Except for the last track, the songs are well-structured and well-written. The production was off-putting initially, and some tracks sounded like they were playing in an adjacent room instead of the recording booth. That can be a plus or a minus, depending on how filthy you like your death metal. The juxtaposition of the two vocal styles is sublime, and the arpeggios really hit the spot. This is BEGRIME EXEMIOUS' best effort to date. The six-year gap between albums proved to be just what they needed.