CEREBRAL ENGORGEMENT is a slam death metal band from Northern California seemingly and impressively ran by one man in Mike Simon. This is the fifth studio album release after long wait from fans since the release of the previous album "Gastrointestinal Bleeding" back in 2013.

It's clear that the group is going for that early CARCASS sound you would expect from "Reek of Putrefecation" so if you enjoy that then you'll be in for a good time. While the album may contain ten songs, the total time for the full album is around 26 minutes so it's pretty obvious that this is intended to be an album you need to listen to in full to get the full effect, and it just makes for an easier listen when you want to go back for another round.

The album starts us with "Voices of Corruption" that begins with an almost horror movie-like intro before causing chaos untold and insanely grunting towards the poor, unsuspecting listener. Effective opener to set the tone.

We quickly get through the next two tracks, though shoutout to "Succubus Reanimated" for an epic breakdown at the outro with the band just throwing everything at the listener, as we hit my favourite track on the record "When Everything Makes You Sick" as it is easily one of the more memorable tracks on the record and one I even found my foot tapping along to. This would be the one to check out if you're interested in the album.

It's a shame that this is then followed up by "Always Watching" which is one of the longer tracks on the album and one with a slower pace that didn't really resonate with me and I actually found kinda boring. It's quite clear that the band is more comfortable with the faster tracks. Thankfully this is picked up again by the next track and with "Aetherial Control" which is the longest track on offer and something a bit different as there were elements of thrash throughout and the best vocals up to this point. Aside from that though it is clear at this point that the sound isn't going to change much throughout the album which I guess is fine for an album lasting less than 30 minutes but it does still mean that the material just kind of blends together and is not as memorable as it could possibly be.

This is a pretty damn decent album, I just wish that more could have been done to differentiate most of the tracks from each other as Mike Simon does come across as a very creative guy and I believe he can do much more. Fans of gross out early death metal will definitely find something to enjoy though as it does pack a punch in its short amount of time.