STENCH — In Putrescence (review)

STENCH — In Putrescence album cover Album · 2010 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Vehemency
Hey, Swedish old school death metal, what a surprise! Well, much to Stench’s good, their debut album In Putrescence does not have that thick and asphyxiating guitar tone and all the possible clichés. Instead, the production here is more breathing and slightly less in-your-face - though the sheer rapidity of this music is still formidable - and there’s some hints of black metal in the mix too.

For the most part, Stench plays fast, blast beats dominating but there are those usual d-beats too. The guitar riffs combine the usual power chords with more menacing and high-pitched one-string tremolo fire more reminiscent of black metal, as are the mid-range screams of vocalist Micke.

The first songs into In Putrescence are really grabbing, but somewhere in the middle of the album things are getting a tad too familiar. Luckily the album runs for a fitting 30 minutes so that I can always listen it through without real boredom, but I do think there’s some compositional stagnancy here that clearly hinders the album from rising to being truly great, making it deserve full three stars only barely.

In Putrescence is a worthy exploration for fans of old school, dirty death metal. It isn’t a groundbreaking record by any book but a satisfying listen for sure. Here’s to hoping that next time when Stench is around they’ve come up with a more competent whole: seeing that they are not afraid to break the boundaries of old school metal (even if it’s just minor damaging of the barriers), I could expect something greater in the future.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Antibeauty Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mana Earth Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Intimate Isolation Hardcore Punk
GOOD FALL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Dark Future Sludge Metal
PAIN CHEMISTRY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Violent Delights Hardcore Punk
GALLEONS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Galleons - Electric Emotions
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 18 hours ago
Galleons - Elsewhere (Official Lyric Video)
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 18 hours ago
Galleons - Neon Dreams (Official Lyric Video)
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 18 hours ago
Galleons - I Travel East As Fievel Goes West Pt. 1 - Official Lyric Video
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 18 hours ago
FREEHOWLING - SCARS FT. AARON MATTS (TEN56.) [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]
FREEHOWLING
Bosh66· 18 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed