Fumes - Assemblage Of Disgust
There isn’t too much revolutionary here for those who are well versed in 90s styled death metal- the distortion of the guitars on the opening ‘Faded Reality’ have a doomy atmosphere with the drums thumping along with the vocals growling and gurgling with some layered effect, but they are pushed back in the mix so they can be a bit hard to hear. Despite this, there is plenty of groove in the mix. ‘Surfeit Of Rancor’ follows suit without too much change to the formula save for a bit more focus on the guitar solos, and the drums definitely sound in overdrive.
‘Drain The Ichor’ will turn heads mainly for its production value, suddenly everything seems louder and right in the face, which is a good thing. Still grim and dirty, the band seems to loosen up a little on the distortion but tighten on the technical elements, especially with the drumming. Then things fade back into heavy distortion with ‘Stagnant And Deteriorating,’ which is the most shrouded track on the album. The vocals have that echoing cavern effect making them very hard to discern, but points for adding to terrifying atmosphere through the guitar use much like a Leviathan album if the one man USBM group was ever to go full on death metal.
‘Mind Wound’ further capitalizes on the atmosphere but mostly only does it in short bursts, where some of the other tracks tend to use longer doses of it. In short, this compilation goes by fast, but has lots of noteworthy moments that it shouldn’t be passed up. For those who have already heard of these guys this may be just a repeat, but this deathly duo for new ears is going to definitely garner some attention.
4 / 5 STARS
2. Surfeit Of Rancor
3. Drain The Ichor
4. Stagnant And Deteriorating
5. Mind Wound
Apr 20, 2021
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