Relapse Records Test Subject Zero DECEASED have released yet another teaser release. They're quickly becoming one of those bands where you ask yourself "are they still going? They've been fairly quiet". I'm not sure even they themselves even know the answer to that question!

Now, this album is fifty three songs long of mostly covers (yes, you read that correctly; fifty-fucking-three). But don't let that deter you, the songs are fairly short and the album goes by surprisingly quickly. If you're a previous listener of DECEASED you'll know that their previous two albums "Zombie Hymns" and "Rotten To The Core" have been out of print for some time now. You'll be glad to know that "Cadaver Traditions" include both of these albums and an extra seventeen previously unreleased songs; so you're basically getting two rare gems and a bonus album for the price of one!

The contents of this album vary dramatically from the classics (VENOM's "Black Metal and IRON MAIDEN's "Wrathchild") to some lesser known gems (HIRAX's "Bombs of Death" and ZNOWHITE's "Do or Die") there are also some serious "what the fuck?" moments (THE DOORS "Not to Touch The Earth" and a track from the My Bloody Valentine soundtrack!). You may notice from these mere six songs which I have named, there's a serious variety in genre; from hardcore, to punk, to thrash, to death metal. They nail every single one! It's rare for a band to be able to cover so many genres in one album and absolutely nail them.

Their cover of SODOM's "Witching Metal" has to be my absolute favourite. I am complete SODOM fangirl and I have no problem admitting that, so naturally when I saw this in the track listing, I diverted straight to it and I wasn't disappointed. Obviously the original will always be better and no one can do SODOM better than SODOM can but you'd be extremely surprised by how well these guys can channel the spirit of the thrashers. I found myself steering back to this track as a kind of intermission every ten songs or so.

At first when this album landed in my inbox (in two parts, might I add!) I was extremely put off by the sheer amount of songs on it. But when I actually psyched myself up to listen to them all I really enjoyed this album, even though it's long it doesn't feel it! The band nail almost every track on this lengthy album and make sure that everyone knows it too. Apparently they have a new album planned for 2016, finally. I'm actually looking forward to hearing more of DECEASED's original material. This album definitely deserves to be picked up and listened to at least once.