Regional genre scenes have largely disappeared with the advent of the internet; now, you can find Gothenburg-style Death Metal bands in places like El Paso, Texas, or East Coast-influenced Thrash bands from Finland. In this way, it's not all that surprising that MORBOSIDAD, from Oakland, California, favor a pulverizing style of Blackened Death Metal that harkens back to the late 1980s, but it doesn't make the band's sound any less satisfying.

Picking up where they left off with on 2013's "Muerte de Cristo en Golgota," the band's newest EP "Tortura" takes a few moments to warm up before launching into a frenzy of ballistic blast-beats and infernal guitars behind Tomas Stench's unholy growls, with lyrics written entirely in Spanish. I'm a big guitar fanatic, and I also couldn't help but dig the chaotic, atonal solo burst around the song's midpoint, which, in addition to the monstrous riffing, puts the song over the top as far as I'm concerned. MORBOSIDAD carry a similar dark vibe to older bands like SARCOFAGO and early SEPULTURA, but they also play a lot faster. "En Las Gallas Del Infierno" is another bruising number that also utilizes blast-beats tastefully, but also includes some (slightly) slower moments.

The title track takes a slightly different turn with its writhing, doomy breaks around mid-song, though the speed comes back before long, and in full force. Most of "Tortura" is vicious music played at breakneck tempos, but the band never over-indulges in their high-velocity shenanigans, mixing things up beat-wise even when staying at consistent speeds.

Fans of MORBOSIDAD, who have released a ton of material over their 20+ year existence, will definitely be pleased with "Tortura," which is one of the best-produced works of the band's career, as well as one of the strongest, with four quality songs that are as memorable as they are brutal. For the uninitiated, "Tortura" is a blend of rabid, blasphemous ferocity that should satisfy fans of the most aggressive Black Metal and Death Metal alike.