SUCCUBUS "Descend Unto Gehenna"

SUCCUBUS "Descend Unto Gehenna" MCD EP (Slaughterhouse Records)

Been waiting for their next output since the demo (the vinyl with the bonus tracks is another story, by the way), here it is the MCD of Malaysian SUCCUBUS, released by Slaughterhouse Records USA. In a minimalistic digipack packaging, "Descend Unto Gehenna" belches out 5 uncompromising tracks including a decent cover of INCUBUS classic "Reanimator's Mutilation". To those still unfamiliar with the band, SUCCUBUS stands for heavily rabid early thrash infested death Metal, to which the comparison with the gritty Swedish sounds of true death Metal surfaced, and this is the explanation too as to why the band is linked with the Swedish hordes, since those kind of undiluted morbidity is what some of the acts from the ever fertile Metal landscapes have devoured and decimated us for quite some time. I can't help but comparing this to their already mentioned (and already reviewed) demo, and to me this lacks a bit of the impact of the demo itself. Do not be discreetly subjective though, this is not to be taken wholly as something negative. The demo, under several reason and circumstances, had stirred the Malaysian scene quite convincingly when it is released I might add. "Descend..." proves to be SUCCUBUS in their more thrashier bit, but the speed indicator has been cranked up a notch too. This is where the loops surfaced its relevance to me, where in more than once I find the instrumentations, notably the vocals, guitarworks and the drums patterns (especially), tend to be choking a bit for breath on keeping up with the intensity. The intention is clear, the band aims to maim you like a Panzer tank (thus the song "Panzer the Iron Grave" is the opening track for this mini album), yet some tightening on several loose ends are warranted, clearly. The productions tend to sound a bit 'safe' too, the 'uncontrolled' vibe of the demo productions hasn't lose it charms definitely. But no matter how the comparison with the demo appears to be, "Descend..." is still some of the better assault of tested and tried unrelenting old thrash smeared death Metal madness you can get from Malaysia.

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