It’s the final week for reviews here at the site before we recap the year, so it only makes sense to get into some death metal first. It feels like that sub-genre was the dominant one this year, though that just might be the memory of a man a little freaked out that he isn’t burned out yet.

We last talked about Wretched Fate with last year’s “Carnal Heresy,” but now the Swedish crushers are back with a quick-and-gory EP “Incineration of the Pious,” a title that’s nicely pointed right about now. On this six-track collection, you get two halves: three new originals and three covers of classic cuts by legendary bands. This is a way for the band—vocalist Adrian Selmani, guitarists Fredrik Wikberg and Mats Andersson, bassist Robin Magnusson, drummer Samuel Karlstrand—to drop some bloody carnage of their own while also pay homage to those who came before them and blazed a fiery path.

“With Ashen Breath” is maniacal but also a little fantastical when it starts, the latter detail due to strange synth that washes through, absolute carnage meeting you on the other end. The guitar work is scathing and reeks of Scandinavian death, the daring pace and the dramatics multiplying, unloading as keys swirl again, stabbing home a final violent point. The title track dawns amid melodic leads and coarse growls, mangling and pounding with a force looking to exact pain and torment. The vocals smear as the guitars catch fire more forcefully, a fast and fluid dash taking off, clobbering as the intent makes it perfectly clear that bloodshed is the only acceptable outcome. “Callous Mutilation Grandeur” trudges before speeding up dangerously, howls spitting nails, the steam rising and making breathing difficult. The pace then smashes harder, beastly growls digging under flesh for prone muscle, crushing in a display of ugliness you cannot soon shake off. The EP concludes with their takes on three classic death metal gems, all intertwined to form one large piece. They do honorable, scuzzy takes on Morbid Angel’s “Dominate” from 1995’s “Domination”; “Like Fire” from Bloodbath’s 2002 debut “Resurrection Through Carnage”; and “Abnormally Deceased” from Entombed’s classic 1990 debut “Left Hand Path,” providing listeners with a template as to where their vicious take on death originated.

“Incineration of the Pious” is a nice bite-sized serving showing where Wretched Fate are now in their death metal psychosis and potentially where they’re going with a second full-length. The added covers are nice, but the meat here is found in the three new tracks that feel like they’re mangling your brain wiring. This is a nice quick burst to make late 2004 a little bloodier.  

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

To buy the album, go here: https://redefiningdarkness.8merch.us/product/wretched-fate-incineration-of-the-pious-mc/

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