You don’t come to death metal because you’re looking for an emotional boost or something to turn your dour mood around. You’re here to soak in it, to take on all the negative that’s surrounding you and perhaps even find a likeminded negative spirit with which to brood. If that’s the case, you’re going to find a lot of content to stir your misery today.
Starting off with a name such as Genocide Pact already should clue you into the fact that you’re going to approach content that isn’t really advisable if you absolutely need cheer. You won’t find it here on their self-titled new record, one that was created with the events of the past 18 months in mind. Pestilence, violence, social unrest, people who are ruthless assholes, politicians with only their bank account in mind, you name it, there’s enough to fuel a death metal record that seeks to maim those who ail us all. So, that’s what the band—guitarist/vocalist Tim Mullaney, guitarist Demir Soyer, bassist Mike Nolan, guitarist/drummer/vocalist Connor Donegan—attacked when creating these eight tracks that stretch over an economical 33 minutes, and you will come out of this disgusted and frayed, certain that taking any further punishment will not be welcome with open arms.
“Led to Extinction” opens with guitars chugging and the pace ripping holes in you. The growls punish and bury, and the simple chorus is effective and should be a jolt to hear live. The soloing just explodes, and the track crushes until it ends suddenly. “Perverse Dominion” destroys right away as the riffs haunt and the vocals grind teeth. Rumbling violence meets with smothering death, and the final moments rub your face in the soot. “Fossilized Future” is mashing and menacing, driving right through your chest, your ribcage be damned. Leads burn as the vocals turn into a mangling assault, bashing away as everything corrodes and blows up. “Mutilated Vision” pounds away with the riffs entangling and opening wounds exposed to the elements. The track slowly trudges and creates bruising before the sounds burst, sending dangerous charges carving at your bones.
“Deprive Degrade” is speedier and completely decimates, the growls digging their teeth into muscle. Complete savagery is realized while the band delivers gut punches, and the playing smears blood in your mouth. “Purged Flesh” is steaming and charging with the growls churning in your guts, and things then shift with the drums leveling buildings. The band brings a massacre complete with spacious soloing, twitching tempos, and massive thrashing that ends in fire. “Barbaric Regression” lives up to its name as it boils to life, and then the pace explodes, lathering with heaviness. The steam picks up and smashes your senses, monstrous growls belch, and the track grunts out for good. “Industrial Obedience” closes the album by bringing punishing heat and devastating growls, slithering with menace. The growls penetrate as the guitars get going, the playing scorches, and the track ends simmering in noise.
Genocide Pact do not have a lot of positivity to offer on their new self-titled record, and that’s probably for the better because it matches what everyday life has been for so many of us. Their crunching death metal just bleeds pain and disillusionment as the band unloads the pressure and anxiety they have faced along with us in a world filled with people who seemingly don’t care. This record is the last 18 months gift wrapped in pain, torment, and hurt that never seems to end.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/genocidepact/
To buy the album, go here: http://relapse.com/genocide-pact/
For more on the label, go here: https://store.relapse.com/
Meat Mead Metal 