Artist: Last Retch
Country: USA
Label: Time To Kill Records
Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD
Year: 2025
Although I do understand that bands try to take a step up with each of their new releases and Last Retch was on the look out for another label for putting their brand new piece of work after having worked with CDN Records in the past, but I can’t deny I felt a bit of a disappointment to see the band surface at Time To Kill Records. As a whole, the Italian label hasn’t been much of a high-flyer to begin with but they completely lost all my respect with the release of the joke that was that last Necrophagia “album”. A total turd and a downright disgrace, defiling the grave of the band and Killjoy. But well, the previous releases by Last Retch were great, so let’s not let those Italians spoil the fun.
On Last Retch’s previous output they’ve shown that they are a band to be reckoned with, at least when you are into Death Metal of the non-boring kind. If you like the watered down versions of today’s HM2-Death Metal or all the Undergang copycats, you’d better look elsewhere, but if you love your Death Metal in early 90’s American fashion, brimming with riffs and solid song writing, you’d do yourself a favor by not passing up this album. I do not actively recall seeing any of Time To Kill Records’ releases in the most common distros and shops across Europe, but purely based on a musical value of ‘Abject Cruelty’, it will pay off looking for it.
In my previous reviews of Last Retch’s output, I’ve already praised the band’s overall sound. It sounds old school enough to retain enough of the genre’s initial purity and energy, but it has a phat and crunchy sound that should also appeal to fans of a slightly more modern approach. In general, Last Retch might be closest to Corpsegrinder-era Cannibal Corpse, lots of meaty riffs, deep grooves, pounding drums and killer dynamics. Even if the majority of the music is not on hyper-speed, ‘Abject Cruelty’ proves that also mid-tempo Death Metal can be dynamic and is able to stay away from Rogga Johansson-like flatfootedness. And, in addition to the memorable riffs and song writing, the total playing time is nice and short: with 27 minutes the whole thing is kept sharp and lethal. Exactly what we’ve come to expect from the Canadians.
