The night was only two years ago in sunny Costa Mesa, California when the death metal unit, CREMATORY STENCH, formed "to conjure a blend of morbid sounds and feelings in the style of L.A.'s own SADISTIC INTENT and the morbid recordings of MORGOTH". Shortly after their formation, they were noticed and signed by Wriezen, Germany's label, FDA Rekotz. And now, after all of the practicing, writing, and performing, CREMATORY STENCH have finally put out their very first release - a self-titled EP to mark the beginning of their journey in their own violent world.

"Crematory Stench" is made up of 4 songs no longer than a bit over 3 minutes in length- a short, quick piece to make a statement and leave us anticipating what the band will do next, but the question is, do they execute that? I will say, however, that the album does have a lot of movement, with push and pull in the genre they describe as Death Metal. Yet, the EP can turn on a dime into something doomy and gloomy right before picking up into a double-time Deathgrind vibe. We get this in full effect on "Fermented Remains".

The guitar by Barajas and Aguilar, conjoined together for some speedy, original riffs, is absolutely killer and carries most of the instrumental intricacy in the EP (when they're not making use of some slightly-excessive tremolo picking, as many death metal bands can be prone to using). The drumming by Valencia is vicious and raw- groovy even, although a bit drowned out in the mix, to be quite honest. Same goes for the bass by Cruz- low and rhythmic, but again, a little lacking in presence. Finally, the vocals by Aguilar are quite unique... not necessarily in the best of ways. To be frank, the vocals can become a bit stifled and lose momentum, not quite matching in pitch with the rest of the music and sound a bit forced, rather than belted with power. He's got potential, but plenty of work needs to be done.

My overall favorite track had to be "Lobotomy". The intro riffs and verse movements were absolutely fierce and encapsulated the spirit of Death Metal. Everything is slightly better balanced in this bit and Aguilar's vocals fit in a bit more smoothly.

By and large, "Crematory Stench" was instrumentally solid- great performances from guitars, drums, and bass for the most part, but the mixing drowned out some of the drums and bass guitar. Though Aguilar's string work was excellently played with Barajas, his vocalization needs practice to evolve from drowning to roaring. CREMATORY STENCH have made quite a brutal first effort, and need to refine themselves a bit, but have a lot of potential and a clear passion for their music.<