On August 16th, 2019, Seattle Death Metal band CEREBRAL ROT released their first full-length album "Odious Descent into Decay." If you're familiar with their 2018 demo "Cessation of Life," some of the songs on this album will sound similar. Although this is their first full-length release, the band members have all been involved in a variety of other death metal and grindcore band such as FETID and CHRONIC TOMB.
For this album, I use the adjectives filthy and murky affectionately. CEREBRAL ROT paints a picture of being dragged into an absolutely festering swamp with their song titles and their sound. The atmosphere is largely due to the reverb and huge low-end. It sounds like it was recorded in a cave. If you like riffs, there is an abundance of both slow and face-melting ones on this album. The album is also littered throughout with sharper and somewhat jarring chords, which help break up the drone of the songs. The vocals are low throughout and downright demonic on a few tracks. The drumming itself is great, however, it sounds over-compressed on much of the album.
The titular first song "Odious Descent into Decay" begins with an ominous acoustic guitar intro before taking you into the depths with slow and menacing guitar riffs. The track is accented by these dissonant riffs that add to the atmosphere. What stands out on the next song "Swamped in Festering Excrementia" is the drumming around the one minute mark. I love blast beats, but I appreciate that an interesting drum pattern was thrown in. Additionally, the band uses more of that dissonant guitar tone that sounds like a horror or science fiction movie sound effect.
The next track of note is the fifth track "Putrefaction (Eternal Decay)."This track marks the halfway point on the album. The sewage vibe may start to be exhausting, but the band tries to keep interest with those jarring chords and a guitar solo. The sixth track "Sardonic Repentance" has one of my favorite riffs on the album. This song exemplifies how adept they are at changing tempo from a grisly slow riff to a brutal fast one. Even by the end of the album, "Foul Stench of Ruination," the swampy atmosphere has not diminished. The track closes with a crushing outro.
Overall, I recommend this album. Everything, from the lyrics to the music, is a complete and utterly vile package (in a good way). What it lacks in technicality, it makes up for with an uncompromising commitment to maintaining the atmosphere.
