I really enjoy a lot of the advancements that have been made in death metal because the barbaric sound that crawled put of the swamps and rose from Scandinavian regions had to advance or get driven into the ground. That said, the guttural stuff still remains tasty as hell (um, even if that taste is equally nasty), so hearing things that churn flesh and guts warms our diseased heart.

Swedish crushers Wretched Fate have their grimy boots in the old camp, finding madness and ugliness in our mundane existences and turning that back on us as their brand of death metal. It’s slathered in generous portions on their second record “Carnal Heresy,” a warped serving of the classic stuff that drills its way into your psyche. The band—vocalist Adrian Selmani, guitarist/backing vocalist Mats Andersson, guitarist Fredrik Wikberg, bassist Robin Magnusson, drummer Samuel Karlstrand—unloads their monstrous power over these nine track and 39 minutes that rubs your face in the soot and hardly lets you have a breath as you gag on the stench.

“Mind Desecrator” erupts as the guitars go off and pulverize, and the drilling fury makes an early statement that you’re in for utter brutality. The speed picks up and crushes and leaves you in a daze, smoke pours from the cracks, and striking leads burn to the end. “Momentary Suicide” clubs with menace and starts fire blazing, absolutely decimating everything in front of it. The growls menace as heavy brawling works its way toward you, and the guitar work blazes all over, bringing vicious plastering and an abrupt end that levels you. “Utterance From the Inhuman Tongue” brings guitars churning and succumbing to tornadic winds, and the punching adds blood spatter that fully disgusts. Everything hits the fan with merciless chaos, and the growls crush and blister, leaving everything in the dust. “Cry From Beyond” has an eerie opening before muddy crushing gets under way, and the vocals dig into your flesh. Strange keys hang overhead and add a weird fog, and that haze makes it feel like you’re in an altered state of mind, paving the way for sounds rattling and broken piano keys to drip.

“Umbilical Suffocation” has, you guessed it, a baby crying out at the start. Poor kid. The playing clobbers and the leads ignite, vicious destruction making its way across the land. The vocals are throaty and threatening as the terror scrapes, speed pummels, and the chorus tears through your chest. “Harlots for Suffering” blasts and brings melodic riffs, snaking and encircling with dangerous intent. Savagery trucks you and aims to pull out your guts, soloing rips open and sweeps, and beastly hell steamrolls, flattening and ending in an echo bath. “Upon the Weak” begins ominously with a calculated pace burning, the growls eating into your flesh. The moodiness thickens before the animalistic fires burn hotter, the band storms with force, and the heat slowly dissipates, leaving sweat puddles behind. “Morbid Testament” unloads as the growls hammer, the guitars swell, and the whole thing is shredded at the mid-section, blood pouring forth. Sweltering fury and a growing madness become major factors, and infernal pressure scalds, adding humidity and horror to the disgusting stew. “Spineless Horror” closes the proceedings with guitars steaming and adding extra heat to the room, and then everything comes apart, volcanic torture meted out in generous portions. A brief bit of calm comes on and then the menace claws back, heavy weight hangs overhead, and the end comes swiftly and violently.

“Carnal Heresy” is one hell of a second roundhouse blow from Wretched Fate, a band firmly keeping the blood and guts in death metal, the place where it belongs. This is a morbid, punishing display that often hurts to confront and leaves your stomach queasy afterward. These nine songs are nasty and devastating, leaving a thick blood trail on the much-travelled path that is death metal.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://shop.redefiningdarkness.com/

For more on the label, go here: https://www.facebook.com/redefiningdarkness