After six years, Edmonton’s Death Metal merchants Begrime Exemious are back and ready to sear the flesh from your face with their blistering fourth studio offering, Rotting In The Aftermath, courtesy of the same line-up that delivered 2016s, The Enslavement Conquest.
Begrime Exemious – Rotting In The Aftermath (Dark Descent Records)
Release Date: 8 July 2022
Words: Jools Green
Rotting In The Aftermath, like Visions Of The Scourge, is an album that, and I quote myself, “is all about the riff, with guitar work that is once again awash with mastery in its most shamelessly extravagant form, albeit in a very frantic, dirty and evil way, bolstered by unrelenting, pummeling drums and flesh searing, vitriolically atmospheric vocals.” So, like before, crank up the volume and brace for aural impact.
They had initially intended to drop this release around 2018. However, after working many of the new tracks into their live repertoire, they felt further refinement, from faster tempos and even lower tunings in some cases, would benefit these tracks and hearing the final product, it sounds like they made a good choice.
It is an album they feel is their most mature and refined offering. But fear not, as they promise it’s still guaranteed to leave a filthy trail of apocalyptic devastation in its wake. They are not wrong.
The nine-track, thirty-seven-minute offering opens on the merciless crushing pounder Cruel Mistress with insanely good mid-point leadwork that is as off-kilter and crazy as it is good.
If you haven’t already been impressed, then Breach The Stronghold takes the pace and intensity up to the next level, a runaway driver, delivered at an impressive pace with complex lead work and atmospheric vocals that bark and snarl their way through from the back of the sound with malice.
Hell’s Embrace continues the rampage and features guest vocals by former Begrime Exemious vocalist/guitarist B. Symic, now of Revelator. I was particularly taken with the drum work on this track, although, to be fair, it’s pretty damned excellent on all the tracks, like all the musicianship on this album. In fact, this is my favourite track so far. It’s an all-round impressively brutal beast.
Infected Mind has a superbly ominous build as it opens, expanding into a dark, slow crusher that maintains that wonderfully unnerving ominous quality which even filters into the leadwork. Superb!
The pace ramps back up a little for As Bodies Collapse, a hugely engaging track with superb riff patterns around which the atmospheric vocals wend their way through with menacing intent.
I absolutely love Regressive Divisions. It has a sinister air as it opens but develops a complex dark drive that has a dark melodic undercurrent. This makes it such a superbly engaging track, particularly for the way the vocals weave their way through, and the mid-point leadwork lifts the whole track to the next level.
Galvanized (Like Nails) is a predominantly unrelenting up-tempo driver that packs a punch with very acidic, atmospheric vocals, which drops pace towards the close allowing the leadwork to shine through, and Planetary Crypt is a short sharp, unrelenting beast. Everything is delivered at full throttle.
The final track, Diseased Mankind, takes on, once more, that sinister air, crawling along with dark menace, developing a superbly sinister ebb and build. The vocals send a chill down your spine, particularly in the closing minute as the drum work comes to the fore with the deep-spoken chant “Diseased Mankind.”
Rotting In The Aftermath is another superb end-to-end offering from Begrime Exemious. The fascinatingly complex artwork is by the legendary Mark Riddick with additional art by Necromogarip.
Rotting In The Aftermath will be available as (CD/LP/CS/Digital) via Soulfood (GER), Sound Pollution (SWE), Code7/PHD (UK)
