Feculent - The Grotesque Arena | Review

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to surmise that Feculent are going to 'bring the filth'. In fact, their name (translated as "foul with impurities") and the crimson mire landscape album art points with a blazing neon sign to such. Though it remains to be heard exactly how the band will go about tackling the premise. Obviously, the name nods to a wide spectrum of styles within the extreme genre. Is this therefore goregrind, pornogrind, brutal death, audio bursting at the seams with pig squeals or something which bears a decidedly more menacing tone?

It doesn’t take long to answer the mystery. Seething with ill-intent, the album commences with a wallop, gripping the ankles of the listener to yank them from their relaxed, unsuspecting, stance towards the dirt.

Grandiose, yet utterly brutal, rhythms in a style akin to Immolation assault the listener, an unhurried yet merciless barbed wire wrapped around Neanderthal club attack, complemented by a tone which might suggest the bands origin; swampland? Perhaps Florida or Louisiana? Guess again. Feculent, ironically, are from a location which the music continues to strongly evoke. I only wonder; is it preposterous to use The Underworld and 'Down Under' as similar terms?

As the album progresses it compounds the archaic, long forgotten, imagery which the first track had successfully conjured. "Host Consumed" bears a bludgeoning motif whose intent goes hand in hand with the low growled vocal accompaniment which especially recalls Tucker-era Morbid Angel. An exquisite track caressing the pleasure sensors. But I have a feeling the album isn't through just yet!

An unmerciful rumble approach, the bending string tendencies of vintage Gorguts and occasional cascading BM riffs result in the undeniable enjoyment and irrefutable replayability of "Weaponization of the Amygdala". It isn't, however, until "A Pit of Unshakable Depths” and "Beneath the Bedlam" (both stunning standouts within an album of especial note) that another strong influence becomes slap-one-in-the-face pungent. This element? The grand malevolence which genre giants Incantation have so painstakingly trademarked in their unwavering dedication to both the genre and their craft. This palpable aura is only cemented by the suffocating, harrowing, nature (the album's final track) "The Grotesque Arena; A Perverse Spectacle" provides. In essence a stellar second half to round out an album which speaks tremendous volumes no matter its frustratingly short length.

Familiar though also meticulously crafted and nuanced Feculent offer six tracks bursting with sufficient weight and genre chops to sate those whose OSDM yearnings have become ravenous as of late.

Based on the caliber exhibited herein one should expect the bands moniker to become part of the cavernous, OSDM, death/doom lexicon in record time.(8.8/10)

Cult

Band info: https://www.facebook.com/Feculent
Label info: https://brilliantemperor.bigcartel.com