UMUR
"High Impact Violence" is the debut full-length studio album by Australian, Melbourne based death metal act Gutless. The album was released through Me Saco Un Ojo Records in November 2024. Gutless formed in 2018 and released the "Mass Extinction" demo the same year. They released a split with US death metal act Mortal Wound in 2020 and the "A Live Execution" live album in 2021.
...and label mates in Mortal Wound and another contemporary death metal act like 200 Stab Wounds are arguably valid references. Old school death metal but with a more contemporary twist. The latter manifests in heavy groove laden brutality and a generally more focused emphasis on groove laden riffs and rhythms than what you find on most old school death metal releases. When that is said "High Impact Violence" is still predominantly an old school leaning death metal release. The vocals are aggressive growling delivered in a staccato punchy style.
"High Impact Violence" features a powerful, raw, and brutal sounding production job, which suits the material well, and upon conclusion it´s a good quality debut album from Gutless. You won´t find much new here, but Gutless have managed to put well known musical elements together in the powerful and effective fashion, and fans of raw and aggressive old school death metal should find a lot to appreciate here. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
