Everything in Australia will kill you . . . including the music. Case in point, HECATOMB. HECATOMB is a Death Metal duo out of Melbourne. They formed in 2018 and released their demo, "Horrid Invocations," in 2020. On May 7, 2021 the demo is being released via Invictus Productions through which they hope to grow their distribution. The album has also been expanded to include the title track, which in the past was only available as a bonus track on CD or MLP.

The five-track debut is 22 minutes of unforgiving, brutal metal. You can call it Black, you can call it Death, even Thrash, but call it at a distance because up close it will hurt you. The db levels of this recording are ridiculous. Even at low volumes it sounds loud. That's a good thing, btw. Lyrically, the songs are about death, perversion, and relentless defiance. If you had to sum them up in five words, you could go with the final words of the final track, "destruction, and total fucking death."

Rick Warkill and Maggressor are both credited with the guitar work and their styles seem to complement each other well. Magressor also handles both bass and drums, so there is an inherent congruence there. Add to that the fact that the music and lyrics of four of the five tracks were written by Magressor and you start to understand why the album seems so consistently executed.

Every track on this crushing assault is solid, but my go-to tracks are "Queen of Perversion" for its delicious Black metal infusion; "Fields of Gorgoroth" for its razored riffs across the first four and half minutes and then the gargantuan proportioned blows which consume the last forty-five seconds; and, of course, "Horrid Invocations" with its monstrous bassline and titan riffs. This is also the longest track on the album, utterly drowning the listener in its wicked tidal assault.

I know this is technically a demo, and so runs the risk of being re-recorded and refined at a later date. But I really hope not. This album is raw and visceral and loud - the three essential components of metal. Altogether, "Horrid Invocations" is a formidable debut. Geographically, Australia always seems like the hardest place to get to. I mean it's a 16-hour flight from everywhere except New Zealand. Musically, though, they are as accessible as a hyperlink to Bandcamp, so no excuse for not checking them out today. You won't regret it.