Artist: Mortify
Country: Japan
Label: Sewer Stench Records
Formats: 7″ EP
Year: 2025
With titles like ‘Grotesque Buzzsaw Defilement’ and ‘Buzzsaw Sickness’ in their back catalogue, you might already have a clue where this is heading. And you are quite right, Mortify is doing the HM2-trick! Yet, not so much in the Dismember/Entombed kind of way, but rather leaning towards Necrony and General Surgery instead. But it doesn’t stop there; the Japanese freely borrow from even more influential Swedes…
The previously released material was quite stubbornly stuck in the “Carnage meets General Surgery”-kind of mould. But the material on this 7” EP, with no less than eight tracks in less than seven minutes, is clearly more Grindcore focussed. But not just any Grindcore, the speedy-kind of Grindcore that reminds of prime Regurgitate and even Nasum. This means that not only the speed has increased considerably, but also the dynamics in the music. From a few slower pieces, the band transitions effortlessly and seamlessly into full-on blastbeat frenzy. This elevated intensity makes ‘Drowned In Muck’ more than just another single in the Japanese band’s ever-growing discography; it means that this is without a doubt their best work to date. It will undoubtedly appeal to fans of more fanatical Death Metal and the heavier, in-your-face kind of Grindcore. And that’s for sure not in the least because of the overwhelmingly crushing production. A recommended listen, that’s for sure!
