World Epitaph

Zombie Riot

Hailing from Hanover Germany, the death metal group ZOMBIE RIOT started their journey in 2014. […]
By Ricardo Casagrande
March 14, 2023
Zombie Riot - World Epitaph album cover

Hailing from Hanover Germany, the death metal group ZOMBIE RIOT started their journey in 2014. Nuclear Zombie Massacre was a four track EP and the band's first release to the maggots of the underworld in 2016. Three of these tracks and also a single called Violence, put out in 2017, are also featured on the band's first full length studio album in 2018 titled Reign of Rotten Flesh. Moving along to 2021, they put out a two track demo called Autophagia. Both of those can be found now in 2023 on the groups second studio album titled World Epitaph under the label Kernkraftritter Records.

The first couple of tracks to open the album come across as light on the guitars when being played over a dark snarling growl and a double kick. There is some melody to be found alongside some crunchy riffs in "Spreading the Fear". But the song does end up being lackluster for the most part. "Final Flesh Fiesta" amps up the tempo and brings a little more force to the riffs as the bass creates a heavy foundation to build on. Next up would be the track "Eat.Prey.Gore". It adds up to just over two minutes of what is the most thrashy death metal to be had on the release. The final half of the track is a melodic breakdown that fails to be the earth shaking grindcore meltdown most favor, but does sound good.

"Feed the Beast" is your classic heavy hitting death metal track with aligned low tuned riffs and well done vocals by Mattias. Not much variety to the guitars up to this point in terms of playing styles as you generally get stacked guitars playing the same chords. The effect is for a more punchy and strong crushing element to the songs but without strong songwriting to create variations, it can become repetitive and boring. "Pesticide" builds up nicely into a track worth mentioning. The band allows the chords to ring out without creating a mass of sound to drown out the music before ending the song with a slowing gallop. The best song on the release for me.

The release for me was pretty one dimensional as what you hear in the opening tracks is what you are going to get for the rest of the album. The songs on the second half, or I guess you could say side b, are a step up and have a stronger sound that you are looking for with a death metal band. The riffs are okay but the vocals and drums seem to be a step above the rest. Not at all a bad album but I am content with hearing the tracks a few times to be able to create my opinion then moving on.

5 / 10

Mediocre

Songwriting

5

Musicianship

6

Memorability

4

Production

5
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"World Epitaph" Track-listing:

1. Autophagia
2. Spreading the Fear
3. Final Flesh Fiesta
4. Eat.Prey.Gore
5. Feed the Beast
6. Entering the World of Pain
7. Pesticide
8. Haunted Bodies
9. Anthropophobic
10. World Epitaph

Zombie Riot Lineup:

Matthias Wiele -Vocals
Tobias - Guitars
Christopher Meyer - Guitars
Mirsha - Bass
Marco - Drums

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