Artist: Abysmal Decay
Country: United Kingdom
Label: Goreture Rex / Old Skull Productions
Formats: 7″ / Demo tape
Year: 2025
After the solid self-titled demo tape that was issued earlier in 2025, UK Death Metal band Abysmal Decay released a digital single in autumn of the same year. While I usually find a 1-track single a bit too insubstantial to dedicate a page to, it became a little different when this single track was granted a physical release in the form of a lathe cut 7” EP by one of the band member’s own imprint, Goretune Rex and a cassette tape by Old Skull Produktions from Hungary.
Those who have heard the debut demo will not be really surprised, as ‘Boneache’ is pretty much a logical continuation of what the band has been doing on ‘Abysmal Decay’. This one track too has lots in common with Swedish Death Metal, mostly mid-tempo with a tad of groove and a bit of melody. In the review for ‘Abysmal Decay’ I mentioned a couple of bands as reference, still those are accurate enough to repeat: Revel In Flesh, Puteraeon, Sorcery and Fleshcrawl. With a tad more melody you can now also add a bash of Bolt Thrower, Carnal Savagery and even Nightbearer for a more complete picture.
On this one track the band has invited Ryan Wills (Seven Doors) for an additional guitar solo and Kwando (Gouger) for some extra vocals. For me personally, especially Wills’ soloing is something that gives ‘Boneache’ a bit of a fresher feel, although I couldn’t necessarily write a favourable review about Seven Doors. Kwando’s icy screeches are not something that I am particularly fond of, it gives the music a slight sludgy feel, which is one of the very few musical genres I really cannot stand. As a whole, the production is a bit rawer, which suits the band pretty well and prevents it from becoming a bit too stale or snoozy, something that unfortunately is happening a bit too often in current day Death Metal.
My personal preference goes to the debut demo, mainly because of the vocal delivery, which is obviously nothing more than a matter of personal taste. However, anyone who would like a copy of ‘Boneache’ should be prepared to pay a hefty price for just one track. Although the cassette tape itself is not that expensive, it seems that the Hungarian postal service prints stamps out of gold. For me, that’s a reason to wait until Abysmal Decay comes up with something more significant.
