Putrified - Death Darkness Decay

It has taken some time for Sweden’s Putrified to get some liftoff since their inception back in 2011, but this Death Metal group brings the Old School in full force and rather crisp sound, avoiding the typical murky droning, distorted sound that bands like Immolation or Witch Vomit do. This four piece takes a rather unique approach to Death Meal, but it is a bit subtle. Their full length debut, “Death Darkness Decay,” features the ritualistic atmospherics of Acherontas and the shredding force of Obituary for a short, yet enjoyable ride of fury. While not as vicious as some of Godz ov War’s other artists, it still hits pretty hard and should satisfy most of those who listen to the label’s bands.
The band either heaps keyboards/ organ bits such as the opening ‘Ab Initio…’ or just somewhat dissonant, yet catchy riffs loaded with a variety of vocals. The album is very vocal driven, be it from main snarler A. Death along with his instrumentation or the backing hisses and growls from Grave and Crypt such as on ‘The Spheres of Man.’ The track is crunchy, but certainly has plenty of OSDM elements to love for those who like their Death Metal early 90s sounding. It is the spoken word parts from P. Apocalypse that will really grab listeners when he comes on as he rants, drones, and growls, and when the riffs slow down to those mid paced Paradise Lost rhythms, the music takes on a more Doom laden side, but those really want the melancholy of Death Doom will enjoy ‘Intermissio/ Vermin.’ Of course, it doesn’t last long before the band launches into almost a somewhat Black/ Death n’ Roll style for a bit.

For those looking for just pure, straightforward Death Metal mixed with Black Metal elements and little frills, ‘Son of Perdition’ is a good choice as it is very solo focused, and though the drums tend to get lost in the mix a bit. The atmosphere comes back with the closing ‘J1:12…’ but it feels like the way it shifts from the opening to the middle and the end feels like 3 different tracks stitched together; same can be said for ‘Intermissio…’ While some might argue the band could have spread them out more to more tracks to make the album seem full, at just barely 30 minutes it still will sound like a right amount of music to enjoy versus being cheated and feeling like it is more of an EP. While “Death Darkness Decay” isn’t quite the gloom and doom driven album many might be expecting, it reeks of decay and ritualism without being soaked in distortion to the point one can’t understand it or enjoy it. While the album is more vocal and riff focused with some focus on atmosphere from the keyboards/ spoken parts/ recitation samples, it still should appeal to those who enjoy both Obituary styled Death Metal and more of the semi harsh Black Metal groups like Emperor (minus the symphonics).
   
3 / 5 STARS