Doomed to Death

You are probably very busy, but if you ever have a stretch of nine minutes that need filling you could do worse than listen to this EP. The cover is a crudely drawn picture of someone putting a chisel into another guy’s head, and the music inside is even better than that might suggest. It is addictive old-style death metal, with a sweaty lust for energy and pace that puts it very close to Repulsion’s Horrified.Like those pioneers of death-grind, the first couple of tracks here barely reach two minutes. Ritual of Gore sweeps in like a gust of pestilential wind, augmented by an equally sickly guitar solo that wavers and spittle-flecked plague victim. The brilliantly-named Evil Town of Mud riffs with fast, biting intensity, and is instantly one of my favourite death metal tracks of the year. The latter two songs are slightly longer; Doomed to Death opens with creepy sample before kicking into an intense rush invoking a sped-up Autopsy. Christoffer Brathen’s vocals are a deathly gasp. Finally, Nuclear Vomit hints at a more epic approach with a short introduction that sounds like the opener from the last Napalm Death album, but which immediately careers back into form with rabid, almost-blackened riffing.So, some fine Norwegian death metal here. Get it!