Vomit - Still Rotting
March 23 2008 at 09:57:51 AM
The posthumous compiling of Vomit's only recordings, first laid down on tape between 1986-87, disinters one of the rarest and most foul voices in Death Metal. This Norwegian outfit—which once shared members with Mayhem and across the icy border, became a favorite of the future Entombed—had in a brief period released one demo, the infamous
Rot in Hell tape, presented here alongside three rehearsal sessions (22 tracks total) all of which reflect the near disastrous state of sound and environment: No matter where you hear it, you are deep inside the basement.
For that same reason, Vomit, Mayhem and others of their time, were often referred to simply as "noise." (A fact observed over many interviews and local 'zine reviews included in the deluxe vinyl, where a surprising obsession with The Residents is also revealed.) While
Rot in Hell appears today very much as it did to early listeners– a scratchy speed metal mix of fast thrumming gallops marked by familiar chromatic digs—the later tracks dole out a surprising combination of slow, drudging slime ("Bloodshed") and rabid grindcore ("ABF") pounded out at speeds that compromise distinction.
Buried in that consuming shadow of feedback, premature cuts, pops and other nameless creaks, the schizophrenic grunts of Tom Berg become little more than thin inflections of air, phantom gasps shackled to Torben Grue's wrapped-fist battery; Lars Sorbekk's fingers seem to reach for that certain note and burst just above the knuckle, human mulch that falls upon bassist Kittil Kittilsen's darkening coils. And the lid falls down again.
[Todd DePalma]
.jpg "Interview: Lugubrum")
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