STENCHED - Gorging On Mephitic Rot
December 5, 2023, a year ago
(Blood Harvest)
Mexico's Stenched formed... this year. Think about that for a minute while you spin this vinyl version of demo Gorging On Mephitic Rot, unleashed by Blood Harvest. I'm putting aside my usual dislike of one-man bands (I dunno, I just can never get past the mental hurdle of the lack of member chemistry for some reason) to spin these six songs, two of which are bonus tracks in case any maniacs own the demo, and I'm glad I did.
Stenched lay down the caveman DM stomp, pure gurgling atmosphere and ugly riffs galore. Usually with one-man bands, something—drumming or guitar work—is lacking, but I must admit everything is handled here with as much care as it needs to have, which is very little, just Autopsy and Demilich demos bashing up against each other, vocals so subterranean it's almost funny, vibe prevailing over song here big time.
But there's hook and groove, both found in the awesome “Putridity Mass Excretion”, amidst the sludging DM burble and blasting polkadeath. What a rush it all is, this love letter to early death metal a total success.
Curious to see how a full-length will sound, because in a sense I don't need or want any more than an EP's worth of this gloriously atavistic, atonal racket.
