I like to think I have a pretty strong stomach when it comes to obscene horrors, at least when it comes to movies and television. Real-life stuff probably would not go down quite as well with me, but we’ll cross that disgusting bridge if and when we get to it. Having it packed into music so I can escape like a terrifying film is something that’s exciting, though, especially in the season in which we’re enjoying.
Blood, guts, and terrifying bodily transformations are smeared all over “Xenoviscerum,” the debut from Human Corpse Abuse. The band—guitarist/bassist/vocalist Shelby Lermo (Vastum, Ulthar) and drummer Adam Jarvis (Pig Destroyer, Misery Index, Lock Up)—apply menacing levels of grind, powerviolence, death metal, punk, and many other foul colors to mash over these 12 tracks and 17 minutes of run time. Yes, technically there are a dozen songs, but the entire thing is meant to be digested as a single, non-stop piece, and considering you’re not asked to devote a terribly large amount of time, no way this should be a problem no matter how limited your attention span. It’s also helps that the thing is morbidly fascinating, deviously brutal, and packed with abrasive noise that easily captures your attention.
“Spinefucker” churns and crushes as it knifes into existence, spewing violence as vicious shrieks deface, coming unglued as we head into “Cerulean Offal” and its weird and nightmarish synth. Then things get maniacal as the playing corrodes, snarling and pulverizing, tearing everything to shreds as we knife into “Suckling at the Wheal” that immediately lands haymakers. Monstrous hell erupts as wild shrieks undo your mental health, and the playing splatters hard, ending with crazed cries. “Tumor Eater” is a piledriver delivered with little concern for your neck’s health as the gut-ripping riffs explode, clobbering and leaving you reaching for walls with little to no balance. “Endoparasitic Cranial Plasmoid” brings vocal torment and drumming that feels like it’s trying to end your life, the shriek/growl mix doing ample damage and smearing your juices on the ground. “Convulsing Labyrinth of Flesh” is thrashy and intense, punishing as guttural chugging wrecks your digestive system, spreading agony before it flees after having left a sizable pool of blood behind.
“Strangulation Ritual” is blinding right off the bat, the growls gurgling amid the gears of a beastly assault. The guitars go off, snarling with intensity before ripping out your guts. “Spiraling Teeth” is mashing but also has a hypnotic urge that sizzles with relentlessness, burning before it fades out and allows “Necroformicophilia” into the room, delivering total and complete demolition. Everything comes apart as the track is consumed by animalistic hell that blows in, destroys everything, and leaves only tatters behind. “Skinsect” absolutely dissects its victim, turning everything to a pile of goo as the playing deals in complete ferocity that sinks into sludgy pools. “Cryptoglossus (Gallery of Tongues)” explodes out of the gates as growls and shrieks unite and torture, and the insane pace twists your bones into interesting new shapes that will be impossible to reverse. Closer “We Are All in Hell” (featuring vocals from Nails’ Todd Jones) is the epic of the bunch, running 2:57 and bludgeoning and trampling, multiplying the thrashy madness. Shrieks gut as the playing mauls with precision, pouring blood and shards of bone as a sci-fi-style synth blanket covers everything and ends in total darkness.
“Xenoviscerum” is an experience that doesn’t last very long, is over before you know it, and for some reason, it’ll feel like you’ve been through a fight pit and endless bouts you never had a prayer of winning. Human Corpse Abuse dump a ton of influences and sounds into this 12-movement assault, so many that it’s difficult to get a hold of them on your first trip through, or even your 50th. This is intense, violent, and vile, a total and complete beating that will drain blood and marrow from your quivering body, scarring you physically and psychologically.
For more on the band, go here: https://humancorpseabuse.bandcamp.com/releases
To buy the album, go here: https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/xenoviscerum
Or here (CD, Americas and Europe): https://selfmadegod-store.com/product-eng-14349-HUMAN-CORPSE-ABUSE-Xenoviscerum-CD-PRE-ORDER.html
Or here (CD, Asia): https://obliterationrecords.bandcamp.com/album/xenoviscerum
Or here (digital): https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/
For more on the label, go here: https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/
And here: https://selfmadegod.com/
And here: http://www.obliteration.jp/
Meat Mead Metal 