Agony Through Rituals of Self Purification

It's hard for me to find a slam band that fits exactly what I want from the genre. A few have managed it- Devourment (of course), Amputated Genitals, Vulvectomy, maybe a couple others- but the majority of the style falls into the Infernal Revulsion ravine of having a lot of great stuff but enough niggling annoyances to significantly damage the listening experience. Phillipino slamongers Down From The Wound come closer to the former group than the latter, though their material isn't quite perfected. Their debut album is certainly a more enjoyable listening experience than most, and I can whole-heartedly recommend it to any fans of slam death, but it does have a few flaws to it which prevent it from really entering my inner circle of slam. Still, it's certainly a good example of the genre and one that more bands should be following.

The overall approach of the band seems staunchly in the Colombian vein of slam: be as filthy sounding as possible and inject some improbable bursts of technicality here and there. Funny enough, they seem to echo Colombian brutal death bands such as Mindly Rotten in that all the members are good at their individual instruments but have a great deal of trouble keeping in time with each other, which leads to a bizarre sort of technical sloppiness that can be either a help or a hindrance to the music depending upon the band. In Down From The Wound's case, it's a mild hindrance; the music might come across with a bit more gravity if all the instruments would consistently strike at the same time, and not JUST during the slams. The production is also a bit murky, with the guitar tone more indistinct and less percussive than it entirely should be, which also robs the music of a little power.

The songwriting, however, is pretty strong. Down From The Wound actually manages to do the hard part in slam: make the blasting sections as interesting as the breakdowns. A lot of the grinding tremolo riffs are surprisingly memorable and aided by an intelligently crafted drum performance that adheres to slam convention but makes it more exciting through quality fills and pure intensity in execution. Vocals are something of a background element on this release and the music is really dominated by the instrumental presence, which is very strong. The breakdowns are delightfully nasty and tend to take basic slam rhythms and alter them just slightly, but the result is greater than one would think, giving a bit of freshness in a genre that's rather overrun with Devourment clones as of the moment. Nothing especially unique occurs on this CD, but the band is willing enough to change things up here and there and not quite so obsessively stick to single rhythms, with Devourment's sense of variation to build tension very much intact.

Down From The Wound's debut album isn't the best slam release I've ever heard, but it's certainly a step above average for the genre. I have a feeling that the next album from these guys will probably make me fall in love with them as much of the slam scene already has. If you're a fan of the style, it's absolutely essential that you grab this one, and more conventional brutal death fans would be encouraged to give it a try as well. Good stuff from a surprising location.

Let's face it. This is brutal death metal. It's slow, it's stupid, and it doesn't do anything that's going to revolutionize the metal music industry. What it does do though, is make you want to bash your head into a wall, and I mean that in the most positive way possible.


These guys lay down some of the thickest, most brutal riffs you can find. The vocalist is a monster, issuing intensely deep gutturals like nothing and doing it in a way that actually works well with the songs, as opposed to grinding against it. It sounds like the lyrics were actually written as if they were another instrument, fitting in with and adding to the landscape created by the music behind them. And the drummer can blast with the best of them. Together, all these aspects add up to some of the most sickest brutal slam around.


The only negative thing that can be said about this album is that many of the songs having nothing memorable about them. They all sound very similar. Though some may say that is a good thing, because they all sound similarly awesome!

I can't imagine a brutal death/slam fan who wouldn't enjoy this album. Highly recommended

Brutality sounds better if it is from the Third World. Most of my extreme metal albums of this kind come from Colombia (this way I also wash my narcodollars, but this is not what we're talking about), but I also save a place for the brutalities from the far and mysthic Asian Southeast. I appreciate very much the reknown Jasad or the unfairly understimated Dirty Infamous, and here I have a new piece of brutal death to add.

This Philippine trio's' Piercing through the veil of lies' demo did already suggest how much they were worth, and their debut album confirms it. 'Agony through rituals of self purification' is a wild album of slam brutal death which recalls of some slower Soils of Fate or more technical Heinous Killings. Production is more than correct, the guitar surprises us for its definition and 'cleanness' (it does not carry too much distortion blurring the riffs ala Devourment, a band not to follow in the production aspect ). Drums play between blast beats / gravities and the slower moshing rhythms. The vocalist uses a deep guttural for the main lines and a higher peg squeal to add some variety.

It's impossible not to bang your head to the rhythm of these songs. If I did not know where this band is from, I'd bet my Clean Flesh cd they were from California. Well I would I had it. Anyway, it 's clear Sevared Records has done quite right by signing this band.

Oh, their demo is released as a bonus at the end of the cd, so you have 52 minutes of slamming sickness in a single disc. Like IB used to say, total fucking slam!

(Originally written for and published on www.pitchline-zine.com)