UMUR
"Rotten to the Core Part 2 (The Nightmare Continues)" is the ninth full-length studio album by US metal act Deceased. The album was released through Malt Soda Recordings in July 2020. It´s the successor to "Ghostly White" from 2018, but it´s not a new studio album featuring original music. Instead it´s a hardcore/punk covers album, featuring covers of artists like Final Conflict, Buzzcocks, and The Accüsed. It´s Deceased second album featuring hardcore/punk covers as they released the "Rotten to the Core" covers album in 2004.
Not surprisingly "Rotten to the Core Part 2 (The Nightmare Continues)" sounds like a natural successor to "Rotten to the Core" (2004) (the CD version of this album actually features all tracks from the 2004 album as bonus material), and if you enjoyed the first release of the series, you´ll pretty surely appreciate "Rotten to the Core Part 2 (The Nightmare Continues)" too. Deceased are a well playing band and they try to put their own spin on the songs, and are relatively successful doing that. The source material are however a little difficult to deal with in terms of making the tracks stand out. The simple and one-dimensional nature of the hardcore/punk styled tracks simply doesn´t provide Deceased with much to work with.
A few tracks of course stand out more than the rest like the cover of "London Calling" by The Clash, but the album is generally not the most varied listening experience. Although the album is relatively well produced and enjoyable while it plays (regardless if you know the original tracks or not), it´s not a release which holds up to the studio albums featuring the band´s original material, and it should be viewed as a "fun" release, the band recorded because of their love for the source material and for their own sake, rather than for the sake of their normal audience. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.