The Rotted - Ad Nauseam

Candlelight Records 2011

1.Anarchogram Sun 2.Rex Oblivione 3.Surrounded By Skulls 4.Non Serviam

5.Just Add Nauseam 6.Entering The Arena Of The Unwell

7.The House Of Bedlam 8.Apathy In The U.K 9.Motoerbastards

10.The Hammer Of Witches 11.Put Me Out Of Your Misery

A dirty and heavy as fuck bass accompanies the drums as ‘Anarchogram Sun’ opens up, filthy D-Beat nastiness from the outset. A slow to mid-paced affair, this opener crawls along, twisting and grinding slowly with vocals full of spite and scathing. ‘Rex Oblivione’ is a storming song, a fury of punk tinged extreme metal, blast beats keeping the pace fast and furious. The Rotted sound extraordinarily like Finnish Blacked Punks Impaled Nazarene (who have been listed as an influence), the simplistic punk element combined with extreme metal to great effect. ‘Surrounded By Skulls’ takes it lead from the previous track, again a mix of the punk D-Beat and extreme metal which makes for an extremely catchy song, shout along backing vocals adding to the punk ethos. ‘Non Serviam’ threatens to be another slow, but catchy anthem. That is until blast beats and furious double kick drums are added, giving this track a more ‘extreme metal’ feel, losing the punkier edge seen on the previous tracks. It’s at this point that the band start sounding less ‘Impaled Nazarene’ and begin to take on their own identity, ‘Just Add Nauseam’ being a fine example of this, being unbelievably brutal, full on grinding madness, blast beats pummelling the listener into submission. Sing/Shout along choruses re-introduced into the sound, creating some very catchy and extreme death metal.

 ‘Entering The Arena Of The Unwell’ continues this theme brilliantly, the pace kept to a maximum. Even the punk D-Beat riffs are played at full throttle and when mixed with the more metal type riffs makes for another catchy, and brutal song, an all round lesson on how extreme metal should be played. ‘The House Of Bedlam’ is another bass heavy offering, extreme metal in essence but the punk element (as ever) never far from the sound. Track lengths are just right, averaging about 3 minutes 30 seconds, some shorter, some slightly longer but all flying past in a whirlwind. ‘Apathy In The UK’ strips the sound down, simplistic riffing with punk and metal meeting head on in a very short, sharp lesson in how to craft an extreme metal song, no fuss, no thrills - all balls!. ‘Motorbastards’ takes the bands sound to extremes, mixing the very simple and the very extreme, blast beats and frenzied riffing absolutely tearing from the speakers before dropping back to the D-Beat and punk simplicity. The two styles are mixed perfectly, really complementing each other. ‘The Hammer Of Witches’ introduces a new element to the bands sonic destruction, sitting nicely alongside the bands now trademark sound are keyboards, placed in the background and at a level where they don’t overpower the song. The keyboards add to the sense of intensity and are a welcome addition, adding some variety.

‘Put Me Out Of Your Misery’ closes this cd, stripping the sound to an absolute minimum, the bass really punching through and adding to the overall heaviness of the guitars. Gone is the punk, gone is the D-Beat, this is all about the heavy as fuck, intense as fuck death/extreme metal, grinding along at a snail’s pace and a great way to close the cd. Creating a real intense atmosphere, this will come across great in a live setting. The whole album shows a confidence and maturity from a band who are now seasoned veterans of the UK extreme metal scene, willing to ‘break the mould’ and not pander to passing trends but instead create their own sound, their own identity with an intensity rarely seen from bands within these shores. Punked up extreme metal intensity that is flawlessly executed and well deserving of your attention.

8 out of 10