The metal of death is not supposed to be complicated, pretty, or well-polished. Yet, that’s exactly what’s happened for the most part. People see dollar signs and a way to make this disgusting beast into a feasible commodity and, before you know it, teen apparel stores nationwide are stocking shirts from bands that claim to feast from the death teat.

Luckily those bands remain that want to keep the medium ugly, puss-filled, and close to the freshly shoveled graveyard. D.C.’s Genocide Pact is one of those, and their no-frills debut record “Forged Through Domination” is a visit with the good stuff. There is no spit shine here, no attempt to be welcoming to the masses, and only an intent to keep things as bloody and destructive as possible. Made up of members of Disciples of Christ and Red Death, this threesome is heavy, miserable, and in just the right frame of mind to make the most ardent of death fans happy. The guys responsible for this thrashing is guitarist/vocalist Tim, bassist Nolan, and drummer Connor Donegan, and their first burst of infamy is a concise, well-played 26 minutes of death that is dosed just right and does ample damage.

The album opens with “Induction,” a riffy, muddy, chugging first cut that sets the scene for carnage and keeps building on the ugliness. The band begins mauling harder as the track goes, with the throaty growls rumbling, and it makes for a nice initial blast of doom-fed death. “Agnogenesis” charges and pounds from the word go, and the punishing thrashing dealt out here meets up with a scorching section of soloing and lathering bit of clubbing that feel calculating and full of ill intent. “Submission Reigns” is much of the same, in that it’s a piece that feels like it’s wailing away at your chest and, as its title suggests, hopes it can make you tap out to the pain. The vocals are lurching and menacing, and toward the end of the song, the pace kicks up hard and drives you headfirst into a wall. Painful. “Desecration” pours feedback that pierces the eardrums, and the tempo is a little muddier than what preceded it. The track feels monstrous, and the fiery riffs that emerge let the song have an even greater impact and leave you with a nice bit of bruising.

“Despotism” launches itself right at you, proving itself to be the heaviest thing on a record that’s pretty full of mashing tracks. The band later hits a pretty nasty groove, proving there is some swagger with their chaos, and the vocals absolutely rumble over top of you, leaving your body flat. The final minute is full of a renewed sense of speed and a hearty helping of blasts. “Menial Subsistence” takes its time with its battery, definitely taking its shots and knocking you for a loop, but doing so in ways that lets you get back to your feet before another body blow. There are some classic guitar parts built in, and that section leads toward the final moments where devastation is unleashed. Closer “Experiments in Nihilism” launches feedback and a sludgy background, leading the way into gruesome vocals and slow-driving horror. Out of that mud, the tempo erupts, the band starts killing anew, soloing explodes out of the din, and the band lets the violence bleed out and away.

No need for a long, fluffy essay on this record. It’s simple, brutal, and a nicely timed slab of death metal that never overstays its welcome. “Forged Through Domination” is a fitting first entry into the world for Genocide Pact, and it’ll get your ass kicked whether you’re listening on headphones or witnessing these beasts in a live setting.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/genocidepact

To buy the album, go here: http://shop.a389records.com/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.a389records.com/site/

It’s great that we live in a time where we no longer persecute people who we don’t understand and have come to terms that there are beings who live their lives differently than do we. Haha. Yeah, right. The saying “being burned at the stake” is just as prevalent and relevant as ever, and though it may have come from the witchcraft mania from centuries ago, it still applies to groups of people today.

OK, you didn’t come for a political speech, so I’ll cut it there. But the Belgian band Possession haven’t forgotten the paranoia surrounding witchcraft that enveloped the past, and their scorching new mini-album “1585-1646” chronicles a witch that wreaked havoc in France during that time period. On this record, we visit with the witch, find out about her visitation from the devil, and follow her as she realizes her powers and eventually is hunted down by the people that she terrorizes. It’s a perfect setting for a metal record, is it not? It has a very King Diamond feel to it, and for those of us who relish stories such as these, the album is a damn pleasure.

What makes it even better is we are hearing Possession develop as a band before our eyes and ears. The band made a huge impression on 2013’s great demo “His Best Deceit” and have slowly but surely added to their collection with last year’s smoldering “Annaliese” and now this new mini effort. The band—vocalist Mestema, guitarist I. Dveikus, bassist/vocalist V. Viriakh, drummer Pz.Kpfw—quickly are becoming one of the better bands in underground death and black metal, and by taking their time to develop, each new release from the band sounds that much more impressive. This 25-minute effort is thunderous and bloody, spooky and hellish, and it should increase the respect this band is getting by each day that passes.

The record opens with the 9-minute Obscurity/Visitation,” a track that takes some time to set a scene, with winds whipping up, choral chants blowing in, death bells ringing, and a storm brewing. Then the guitars light up and start burning, and the whole scene rips open with muscle-bound riffs, screamy vocals, and an assault that cascades hard and smears you with ferocity. That bleeds into “Ceremony” that starts with heavy thrashing and a show of force that could crush your chest cavity. The guitars wail violently, the drums are beaten to dust, the vocals are raw and bloody, and the final moments completely tear things apart. “Guilty” continues the intensity, with the riffs churning and the growling awash in eerie echo. The song is guttural and brutal, with the guitars shrieking like a ghoul, a meaty thrash section erupting, and Mestema howling like a ghost whose soul is burning. The album ends with “Ablaze,” a song that shouldn’t be too hard to figure out thematically based on our plot line, and it hits sections of speed that just blind. The band mashes your bones, with a thick bassline adding to the soot, delirious fury spinning your brain, and the vocals spiraling, ending this tale in a pit of madness.

Possession are a band on the rise, one of those groups you better pay your attention if you know what’s good for you. Over a series of small releases, they’ve built their reputation and keep getting deadlier. “1585-1646” is a can’t-miss slab of death and black metal that will scar your soul and burn you down right along with the album’s main character.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.possessionrealm.com/

To buy the album, go here: http://shop.ironbonehead.de/en/

Or here: http://www.invictusproductions.net/shop/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.ironbonehead.de/

And here: http://invictusproductions.net/