TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE hailing from London, UK was formed in 2004. The band name was inspired by a horror movie from 1971 and they play brutal Death Metal. So far, they released two full-length albums in 2014 and the latest one "A Resting Place For The Wrathful" just last year. "Beset By False Prophets" is an EP with four new songs but it comes with the entire live set from the Portugese Xxxapada Na Tromba festival as bonus tracks expanding it to a length of almost 47 minutes. The EP was released via North Carolina label Comatose Music which has a number of brutal Death Metal and Grindcore bands among their roster.

We did not hear from TOTDN for a long time until they released their second full-length album last year. Given that they are active for much longer than many bands of their genre, it is somehow surprising that TOTDN follow-up quickly with four new songs and even release the material from one of their rare live appearances. The four new songs are a continuation of the material from their latest album: the speed of the tracks is insane, so is the drumming, and the vocals are brutal. Most of the songs feature a cinematic intro before they explode, for example the opener "The Wages Of Faith". Straight after the intro, there is the kick into the face, not one kick or two, it is a continuous pummeling. The drums act like machine guns, it is a constant, blisteringly fast hammering of blast-beats and double-bass drums. The guitar riffs range from being flesh-ripping to dark and gloomy. The technicality of the guitars is kept at a fairly low level, it is raw and simple. The vocals are quite diverse ranging from low growls to ear-deafening screams. "The Wages Of Faith" was released as video and the YouTube link is given below.

"Facadism" is not much different from the opener, it includes a few lead guitars and is slightly more technical. "At The Trial Of The Exhumed Pope" is a bit different. It is slower for most parts and it is darker than the other songs and it incorporates once more cinematic samples. The guitar riffing is slower but more powerful and extremely dark. During the second half of the song, TOTDN raise the tempo a bit and the relentless drumming of Mauro Hammerition is driving the song forward until the end. "Confounded By Apophenia" goes back to the high-speed approach but it contains a mid-tempo break and it finishes with a scream straight from the abyss.

The tracks from the live set includes most songs from the latest album and only two songs come from the very early days of TOTDN. The quality of the live set is flawless, so this is a good opportunity to experience them live (at least as audio) since TOTDN were never known as a very frequent touring band.

"Beset By False Prophets" is a very good follow-up on the latest album of TOTDN. It has all ingredients of a classical brutal Death Metal EP: it is aggressive, it is evil, it is fast, driven by insane drumming, and growls straight from hell. The sound of TOTDN is authentic with a no-nonsense approach, and has its own identity. The production of the EP maintains the rawness of their sound. I like especially the added live bonus tracks, since this is somehow a rarity. If you dig "A Resting Place For The Wrathful" then you will like this one as well. It will be interesting to see whether TOTDN will have more frequent future releases. It would be awesome for brutal Death Metal fans.