SCORCHED, like many other bands out there, base their sound around the template of a movement.  For these Delaware natives, that movement is early to mid 1990s Death Metal.  "Ecliptic Butchery" is the band's second full-length, and though the band formed just in 2015, they already have cemented a convincing display of Death Metal proficiency.  But, is this idol worship, or the work of a technically proficient, forward-thinking band using the template as a spring board?

The album begins with "Blood Splatter Eclipse," which starts with strange sounds to set the mood when suddenly, the band comes in with some grinding Death Metal.  The drums provide the intensity behind an unstoppable gallop leading the proceedings forward until the band takes a left turn for some slow, palm-muted parts full of atmosphere.  The second track, "Disfiguring Operations," is at one time a blistering onslaught of blood-curdling fury and also features a straight-forward breakdown that feels everything but that when juxtaposed with the other material.

"Exhibits of Torture," the fifth track, erupts with a violent fury first established by tremolo picking and then resolving into vicious palm muting.  The seventh track, "Darkness Infests," creeps in with a simple riff that is made more resolute by ever-changing drums underneath.  Listening to tracks such as this can cause one to magically change decades and land back in the day when Death Metal was still a blank canvas for most bands.

"Dissected Humanity" is proof the band saved their most crushing song for last.  Minor key chords are the foundation upon which it is built.  Palm-muted riffs underneath provide the brick and mortar.  The exercise ends with strange sounds that could have been use for effects in an old school horror flick.  Just as it began, the album ends with sounds of the mood desired and this ultimately provides the frame work of a successful Death Metal album in the spirit of classic CANNIBAL CORPSE, DECEASED, and NECROPHAGIA.

The production on the album does well to serve the band's vision.  The guitars are cutting and oppressive, while the bass continually pulses underneath.  The drums proliferate a solid rhythm while still existing in the acoustically plausible realm.  There are no microwave popcorn drums here.  Once can easily imagine the vocals as Chris Barnes-like, and all-low, all the time.  The end result is an album that despite offering nothing gleaming new, shines pristine in the glow of the genre's best efforts.