Last month we had the fiendish pleasure of premiering the first single from the forthcoming second album by the Italian death-dealers Helslave. We don’t have a crystal ball, but we’ll still predict that their new album, From the Sulphur Depths, is going to become a huge favorite for fans of massive, marauding, deliciously gruesome old school death metal. And as a further teaser for its horrifying pleasures, we’re equally pleased to bring you the album’s second advance track today — “Rotting Pile of Flesh“.
We summed up that first single, “Unholy Graves“, as “bombastic chainsaw death metal of the finest kind, an electrifying, turbocharged thrill-ride that’s as crushing as a pile-driver and as ferocious as giant famished wolves on the hunt”. The song we’re bringing you today is just as exhilarating — even when the band introduce a ghastly change of pace.
From the beginning “Rotting Pile of Flesh” is a big galloping monster, composed of wild, joyously vicious riffing, mauling bass-work, and neck-ruining drum rhythms. The hornet-swarm whirring of the leads are ecstatic and crazed, and the vocals are just amazing. Diego Laino‘s barbarous growls and howls are tremendously expressive, and the little breaks that occur just before he roars the song’s title were an astute touch.
But as forecast, the band also suddenly slow the song’s hard-charging momentum and convert it into a stomping crusher with a gruesome and ghastly atmosphere, accented by a rapidly swirling and wailing guitar solo that sounds positively supernatural. And that leads into another maniacally savage romp to the finish line.
In addition to Diego Laino, we’d like to also applaud the rest of Helslave’s for their terrific work: Jari Sgarlato (guitar), Marco Benedetti (guitar ), Luca Riccardelli (bass), and Francesco Comerci (drums).
And speaking of people who deserve applause, Juanjo Castellano created the album’s eye-catching cover art; the legendary Dan Swanö (ex-Edge Of Sanity, ex-Bloodbath, Witherscape, etc) mixed and mastered the album; and the drums were recorded by Stefano Morabito at 16th Cellar Studio in Rome.
From the Sulphur Depths will be given a CD and digital release by Pulverised Records on April 23rd, with a vinyl edition coming on May 14th, and tape editions will also be available. It’s recommended for fans of Baest, Bloodbath, Dismember, Gatecreeper, and HM-2 Death Metal in general. Pre-orders are available now — and if you missed that first single we premiered, you can check it out below.
PRE-ORDER:
(EU) CD, Vinyl, digital: https://helslave.bandcamp.com/
(US and rest of the world) CD, Vinyl: https://pulverised.bandcamp.com
(EU) Tape: https://gruesomerecords.bandcamp.com
(US) Tape: https://desertwastelands.bandcamp.com
HELSLAVE:
https://www.facebook.com/helslave