Written by Zax
AHTME – Mephittic
Technical Brutal Death Metal from Missouri, USA
Released July 24th, 2020
Via Unique Leader Records
8.3/10
Technical brutal death metal is easily one of the most interesting subgenres in my opinion, the combination of unspoken out of this world complexities and barbaric brutality is somehow a match made in heaven, and I believe Ahtme perfects this sound on their new record Mephitic out on Unique Leader Records.
The playing on this record is surgically precise, I’d be willing to say this is one of the most tight performances I’ve ever heard put to record, and the interesting thing is that is doesn’t come with a heavy dose of shredding or general wankery, but rather we see lightning speeds and ridiculous song structures.
The production is on point, as is the case with most Unique Leader releases, but that doesn’t stop this from sounding primitive as well, the riffs are sharp as hell, the grind of the bass lines is enough to shake your walls, and those blastbeats just do not stop! It’s the level brutality that is bound to make the most seasoned metalhead scrunch up their face in disgust, much like the fella on the cover there.
The vocals easily match the brutality of the music, the gutturals laid down by Brent Turnbow are insanely powerful. The lyrics are pretty easy to make out as well. I always applaud a filthy vocal performance that is still somewhat coherent as far as lyrics go.
These guys made a name for themselves with their last album Sewer Born, and I’m confident that this new record will put them in the upper echelon of modern death metal bands. Do yourself a favor and give this one a listen!
8.3/10
yep it truly hits the perfect place of brutality…. They, AHTME, have bought my soul..