Artist: Avulsed
Country: Spain
Label: Xtreem Music
Formats: 10″ EP / CD EP
Year: 2023
One of Spain’s longest running bands is back with this new two-track EP, which is actually the first new material since the 2017 released split 7” EP with French Mercyless. That makes these guys not quite prolific, but they haven’t lulled themselves into soothing siesta either. Main man Dave “Rotten” Sanchez is a busy man, running his label and maintaining a hand full of different bands in various styles. Such a busy schedule not only has the downside that the pace of releasing is on the low side, but the danger also lurks that attention (and thus quality) is not always guaranteed.
To start on a personal note, Avulsed has never been among my favourite bands, but it has always gained my appreciation because of the band’s honest and hard-working attitude. Because, truth be told, musically Avulsed has never been able to compete with the big boys. I always believed that Dave Rotten’s large network still allowed the band to grow to a respectable level.
Musically, for me, a peak was reached on the surprisingly good ‘Altar Of Disembowelment’ 10″ EP from 2015. On this, the band had a really good and meaty sound for the very first time, with the Swedish Death Metal-inspired guitar sound coming into its own. The subsequent album, ‘Deathgeneration’, consisting of a large number of re-recordings with an equally large amount of guest musicians, lacked any kind of cohesion. In other words, a disappointment.
This new EP, which clocks in at just under 10 minutes, is thankfully more in line with that aforementioned ‘Altar Of Disembowelment’ 10″ EP. The guitar sound is a bit less massive though, and on ‘Extraterrestrial Carnage’ a bit more room has been made for something that should pass for “melody”. The choppy and meaty riffs again give the songs enough bite and make Avulsed appealing again to those who prefer their Death Metal to be an extension of bands like Bolt Thrower, Fleshcrawl and Demigod. Compared to Avulsed’s latest recordings, Dave’s vocals are also a bit more prominent in the mix on these two new tracks. The latter shouldn’t be a problem, but this, however, also shows that Dave is not necessarily the very best Death Metal vocalist on the Death Metal scene.
Where for a while I feared we should put the band in the same ballpark as Paganizer, Ribspreader or other Rogga Johansson-esque mediocrity, Avulsed proves to be of a higher standard after all. ‘Extraterrestrial Carnage’ does an excellent job as a preview of the upcoming full-length album. Bring it on!
