Steady improvement on all fronts: Sanguisugabogg step out of the gore-soaked meme shadows and deliver their most ambitious and focused record yet. The production (by none other than Kurt Ballou at God City Studios) is the thickest and the riffs are the chunkiest they've ever delivered, with all the trademark slam and sleaze still present. Amidst the grotesquerie, songwriting maturity can also be discerned, but only if you're willing to get your hands dirty to find it, by digging into the album.
Tracks like "Hideous Testimony", "Felony Abuse of a Corpse" , "Sanctified Defilement" and "Erotic Beheading" kick in fast and mercilessly, balancing tempo alterations and slam intersections with striking ease, and will please fans of the band to the fullest. Opener "Rotted Entanglement" is another highlight, and immediately hooks the listener and sets the ground for the record's temperament and identity. The guest appearances (Nails, Full of Hell, Defeated Sanity, Cattle Decapitation, PeelingFlesh) also speak volumes, amplifying the overall brutality without simply being window dressing.
A moment that stands out is on "Repulsive Demise", where the band stretches beyond its otherwise clear cut formula. A bit of industrial pacing and ominous ambience, with slight noise textures and deliberate repetition, it worked perfectly for me but might indeed alienate some more hard-headed Sanguisugabogg listeners. The fast-paced, nu-metal / grind-y tendencies of "Semi Automatic Facial Reconstruction" also hint the band's explorative song-writing on Hideous Aftermath.
The final piece, "Paid In Flesh", is almost eight minutes long. Yes, you read correctly. After a considerable chunk of club-crushing chaos, with extra minor elements here and there, the band chooses to close the record with more melodic but perilous guitar structures that stand out. The influence of Dylan Walker from Full of Hell is clear on that track, but that's also the case with all featured musicians mentioned before, on their respective moments.
The band does well in trying to overtake a sense of monotony, on which they have sometimes stumbled before. Hideous Aftermath is direct, catchy, clearly brutal and quite consistent, with its own instances of unique identity slipping into familiar territory. You're not going to like them now if you didn't like them before, but still it's worth a listen, especially for fans of death metal that is less complex and in favor of bulkiness and filth.
By the way, what the heck is that on the cover art? [4 out of 5]
Ehei parapano pragmata apoti perimena gia disko tetoias mpantas
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