Hello,
Reviews of the EXCORIATE tape keep on appearing!
Here are five new chronicles about their doomy tape!
CONTAMINATED TONES Blog (Usa)
Excoriate's ...Of The Ghastly Stench drips and dangles it's murk into your brain with dangerous effectiveness. This death doom mixture is the result of over ten years of refinement in their trade. There is a lot here that reminds me of other South American death metal such as Mystifier or Headhunter DC, but also there is a twisting usage of melody akin to the Dutch scene. There is also something nostalgic about the presentation overall; the raw and unrefined guitar tone, the black and white cassette j-card, the improper capitalization of song titles, and the overwhelmingly swampy sound of the four tracks.
The pacing on this release is spot on. "Teofisto", an instrumental introductory track sets the stage for the expertly twisting "Oh! Peaceful Derketa", which slithers and never truly clicks into a predictable rhythmic pattern or style. It's something which Excoriate do particularly well which befuddles other bands. What could be construed as the chorus in the track is an instantly memorable riff which drops at all the right moments of the track. Midway through the six minute long song-arc, Excoriate borrow some rhythmic influence from Celtic Frost in transition to a slowish section with creepy bass melodies which further morphs into something not unlike the iconic - iconic to me, at least - "Osculum Obsenum" from Mystifier's Wicca.
Where "Oh! Peaceful Derketa" is a slower, brooding track, the pace picks up with "Black Streams on the Ground of Cruelty," but the unconventional riffs and melodies are retained at the quicker tempo. Francisco Rojas experiments heavily with guitar leads and noisy tremolo runs to cast a demonic and evil cloud across final track, and one of the best song titles I've heard in a while, "Ghostly Stench of Mortal Remains." It's the better of the two faster tracks for me, with a seemingly non-repeating main riff full of shifting power chords under flowing tremolo patterns. The song writhes under the serpentine tremolo riffs. Drummer Lino Contreras and Vocalist Fernando Olivares somehow manage to know where the song is going, and while I find it hard to follow from a structure standpoint, it's engaging regardless, and never gives the impression that the band is also lost.
Excoriate take a death metal foundation and finding a way to give it an identity they can call their own style. It's easy to appreciate a band that offers something fresh in each song, never rests on tropes or a stereotypical stamping and pasting of barely nuanced riffs. ...Of The Ghastly Stench is moist, dark, brooding, and definitively creepy. If you've ever claimed there's no good death metal coming out in the early 90's vein, Excoriate stands to correct your assumptions. Nihilistic Holocaust did right by putting this tape out because it deserves some recognition. I'm off to find Excoriate's earlier demos and material.
contaminatedtones.blogspot.fr/2017/10/excoriate-of-ghastly-stench.htmlECHOES AND DUST Webzine (Philippines)
The band Excoriate is a unique entity. This band is from Chile and is not the other death metal band from Germany with the same name. Their latest venture into the swampy wastelands that inspire their artwork and sound is called …Of the Ghastly Stench. Is it wise to label a band so multi-dimensional and anti-typical? No. Excoriate is part old-school death metal, doom, first wave black metal a la early Varathron, besides others I can’t name out of consideration for the band’s originality and my unwillingness to pigeon-hole the band’s sound and approach to songwriting. Really, some folks may think of them as doom/death and may well have credence. But, I hear more than that in Excoriate’s platter of four tracks. It is wise to simply note that this band is old-school, and don’t simply subscribe to trends.
The guitars are captured by the production nicely. Not just gritty and sludgy, the guitar tone sounds like it was channeled out of outdated equipment. Even then, the guitar riffs aren’t muddled like they would be had they been outputted through a karaoke. The bass is audible, and both snare and bass drum thud in old-school death metal fashion. The vocals are part doom/part old-school death metal, and also remind me of Varathron circa His Majesty at the Swamp.
Did I enjoy this festering brew of unidentifiable, anti-typical elements amalgamated into an obviously-toxic substance? Yes. And while …Of the Ghastly Stench is nowhere close to His Majesty at the Swamp’s brilliance and grandeur, doom/death fans who like the sound of the early eighties Sabbath-inspired doom/death hybrids will love Excoriate to bits. In this day and age, most doom/death sounds rather same-ish. Excoriate doesn’t.
And, to add to that, Excoriate don’t intend to be compared to Varathron’s style on its landmark album, so it isn’t fair to do so and declare them unworthy of that comparison. …Of the Ghastly Stench simply reminded me of that lost recording, and that comparison should only be perceived positively. People inclined to misunderstand said comparison will declare Excoriate unworthy of said comparison, and I don’t intend to throw Excoriate under the bus like that. So, regard your lesser capacity at comprehension with responsibility for once and not make that mistake and take my words lightly, should you have little else to do but troll writers who don’t intend to defame poor young bands.
…Of the Ghastly Stench is not an album I typically herald with high praise, but I would like to emphasize to old-school doom/death fans that they should check this release out. I enjoyed my time listening to Excoriate, and doom/death fans who want to hear Sabbath groove and early death metal first fuse wonderfully should exert due effort to get a copy of this now.
CANADIAN ASSAULT Webzine (Can)
It is always great to get a release from Gab of the great UG record label Nihilistic Holocaust (zine too by the way!). We have been in touch since, well fuck let me think, it was probably around the same time we both started our fanzines in 1998! Anyway, Nihilistic is a big supporter of dirty cult old school death metal from the early days, so it should come as no surprise Excoriate follow in those hallowed footsteps. This tape is filled with obscured sounding doom tinged death metal, which brings to mind the great old days from the very end of the ‘80s and early ‘90s. Back when you had great bands like Grave, Asphyx, Morgoth, Incantation, Dismember, Sinister, Deteriorot, Goatlord, Nunslaughter, Immolation, Nihilist, Cianide, Immortal Fate, Winter plus many, many more releasing amazing demos and eps that would fit nicely next to this demo a few decades later. Sorry I worship this stuff so I could list bands for days haha. This does fit with those cult releases musically like a glove, even the recording / production on here while good, it does sound like it could have been recorded back then. There is some great riffing which creates a nice suffocating atmosphere with the odd short frantic guitar solo. The vocals are these killer cackling growls that sound like a rough beast or demon pursuing you through the fog filled forest, while yelling out the blood curdling horrors it will do to you once it captures you. This demo is a stark reminder, for me of the way death fucking metal should be, it should be dangerous and filthy and menacing! - Dale
www.canadianassault.com/demoreviewsnewpage.htmlFRIEDHOF Webzine (Spa)
No voy a ponerme a escribir el baile de estudios donde se ha grabado este trabajo porque me parece meter palabras por meter. El caso es que estos Excoriate celebran sus más de doce años de vida lanzando en casete las cuatro canciones que ya fueron editadas en un compartido de hace dos años con sus compatriotas Horrifying y el sonido, pese a usar varios estudios, es el adecuado.
Lo que tenemos es un saturado Death Metal de bajo prominente, batería comedida y guitarras saturadas en “Teofisto”, la intro que abre para estos casi veinte minutos que continúan con “Oh! Peaceful Derketa”, pieza donde la melodía se desarrolla en una composición de sonido noventero y que llena cada milímetro cuadrado de los altavoces de mi cadena. También hay espacio para ritmos lentos y acordes arrastrados, cercanos al Doom para un tema extenso.“Black streams on the ground of cruelty” es un salvaje tema con sonido de garaje, ritmos sencillos y atmósfera oscura y opresiva y “Ghostly stench of mortal remains” (sé que el trabajo se titula “...Of the Ghastly Stench”, pero yo he copiado lo que viene en el libreto) comienza con un melódico y rápido solo de guitarra apoyado por una básica sección rítmica. Un Death tosco y brusco cuyas voces traen diferentes ecos blackers, si bien el sonido de los instrumentos nos conducen por el camino citado del Death Metal de los años noventa.
La cosa acaba tan rápido, eso es siempre buena señal, que me he puesto varias veces este notable y adictivo “...Of the Ghastly Stench” y no me canso de escucharlo. Las influencias en las que se centra son tan oscuras como variadas y pueden recordar tanto a los primeros Celtic Frost como a Morgoth o a Bolt Thrower e incluso a Possessed.
El arte interior se presenta con logo de César Hidalgo y básica y tétrica portada del propio vocalista Fernando Olivares. Si indagas un poco por la web seguro que puedes dar un vistazo al diseño completo. Musicalmente es un trabajo logrado e ideal para la gente que suela buscar el sonido que se hacía treinta años antes.
friedhof-magazine.com/criticas/excoriate-ghastly-stenchUNDERGROUND.DE Webzine
Excoriate ist eine Band, welche seit ihrer Gründung anno 2002 noch kein Album veröffentlich hat und dennoch im südamerikanischen, genauer chilenischen Untergrund seine eingeschworene Fanbase hat. Ihre neuste Demo „Of The Ghastly Stench“ zeigt jedoch deutlich, dass die Band keineswegs untätig ist und stets an ihrem Death/Doomix arbeitet.
Schon die ersten Töne des Openers „Teofisto“ lassen erahnen, dass hier keine Laien am Werk sind, wenn es darum geht einen rein instrumentalen Song zu komponieren, welcher trotz seiner kurzen Dauer von zwei Minuten einen Vorgeschmack für die chilenische Auffassung von Doom Metal geben soll. Ein prägnanter Bass dominiert die schweren Drums mit düsteren Gitarrenie sich von Note zu Note schleppen und sich mittig durch eine kleine up-Tempo-Passage hindurchjagenur um wieder hinab zu stürzen und den Hörer gleich mitzureisen. Man hört selten ein so gelungenes Intro auf einer Demo, das so gut auf das Folgende einstimmt und den Hörer mitnimmt – so kann der südamerikanische Mix gern weitergehen. „Oh! Peaceful Derkata!“ zelebriert dahingegen finsteren Death Metal, der mitunter an skandinavische Werke der früheren neunziger Jahre erinnert und dann ab der Songmitte im low-Tempobereich bleibt, dabei aber droht in die Ideenlosigkeit abzurutschen und zu generisch zu werden. Beim dritten Song „Black Streams On The Ground Of Cruelty“ baut man weiterhin seine vorher gewonnene Death-Sympathie mit wechselndem Riffing und überwiegenden Wiederholungen auf, die durch die zu generischen Vocals an Spannung zunehmend verlieren und etwas Auflockerung dringend nötig hätten. Dadurch bleibt es nur ein durchschnittlicher Song, der auch auf einem beliebigen anderen Death Metallbum hätte zu finden sein können. Dahingehend überrascht der letzte Song „Ghostly Stench Of Mortal Remains“ mit seinem kraftvollen Einstieg mittels Gitarrensoli, gefolgt vom ersehnten abwechslungsreichen Gesang und fortfolgend melodischer Begleitung dessen. Unweigerlich weht auch hier ein Wind aus Skandinavien mit, wodurch man sich aber fragt, was hier in dieser Musik aus Chile mitkommt – leider so gut wie nichts. Alles in allem ist diese neueste Demo ein guter Wegweiser der Band mit spannenden Ansätzen und genug technischer Finesse, um etwas mehr Eigenständigkeit zukünftig einfließen zu lassen und um sich weiter abzusetzen. Die Skills hat jeder der Musiker hörbar und technisch ist absolut nichts zu beanstanden, jedoch mehr als ein gutes Release einer Death-Demo ergibt sich im Moment nicht.
www.undergrounded.de/reviews-mobil/album-reviews/item/3804-excoriate-of-the-ghastly-stench
