Vomit The Soul - Massive Incineration

Vomit The Soul are another one of those bands that started out with a strong run in the early 2000s, fell apart at some point, and then came back with a roar. This Italian based Brutal Death Metal group found their home on Unique Leader Records with the scorcher known as “Cold” back in 2021 after 11 years of quiet and it hit like a freight train in a good way on the ears. Merging a sound like Vital Remains meets Pyrexia, every track was fast, bludgeoning, and just the right level of aggressive to get one out of bed in the morning or get pumped for that morning commute, but at the same time have those touches of Technical Death Metal in the vein of Suffocation especially on the drum side. Now this four piece is at it again with some lineup changes, but still delivering fast and aggressive Brutal Death Metal with groove infused somewhat, but keeping it as heavy as possible. With vocalist Max Santarelli growling and gurgling amidst those guitar slams right next to fellow guitarist Stefano Rossi Ciucci, they are backed by thick chunky bass lines from Andrea Pillitu and a mix of click anti-aircraft cannons meets machine gun fire drumming from Davide Billia, who is a new and welcome addition to the band. Listeners should expect a pretty heavy result that will not put them to sleep.

Vomit The Soul creates their grab from chunky almost Hardcore influenced riffs with an overdrive of drumming and inhuman vocals to get their listeners interested, and while not really on the Downtempo Slam/ Deathcore train, some of their tracks like ‘Bloodtime’ could grab those listeners. For those who like the bludgeoning Brutal Death Metal that doesn’t let up, the opening ‘Annihilate the Infernal Army’ is a great start. One thing listeners will notice though is that the band is heavily relying on the stop and go grooves of the likes of a band like Dying Fetus, while abandoning the more blistering Vital Remains styled riffs and drums. Those who have heard the rather famed album like “Stop at Nothing” will hear a lot of comparisons in “Massive Incineration,” and even the track ‘Beg for Mercy’ feels more like a nod towards the legendary Dying Fetus more than anything else. A named track like ‘Beg for Mercy’ is very groove oriented and brutal with clear splits between both styles, but at the same time the lack of other influences from the previous album just doesn’t quite throw the weighty punch like “Cold” did. Many of the tracks from that just had that right level of aggression and groove that flowed together versus ‘fast, then sudden groove chug, fast blast beats again then back to groove chug.’ Vomit The Soul still hit hard in this style, but with the more Dying Fetus influenced track, the songs do tend to wear after a while in the ‘sound the same’ boat. ‘Repulsive Shores of Oblivion’ is where the band finally comes back more into their own and hammer the listener track after track with a smattering of riffs, drums, and bellows versus a more stop and go head banging, jumping pace that a band like Spite would do during one of their choruses.

The album isn’t without its evolutionary moments and tracks that grab. Compared to “Cold” which was just meant to hit you over and over in the ear till you submitted to the idea that Vomit The Soul was the heaviest thing out there (or died from happiness of the speed and fury), “Massive Incineration” does have more memorable and very catchy tracks. Be it the groove laden ‘Bloodtime’ or the almost sludgy Slam driven ‘Mark of Blasphemy’ which finally gives up the Dying Fetus technicality touches and just presents a solid, lumbering Brutal Death Metal track with top notch vocals, this slow to mid paced piece especially stands out as something different for the band and also delivers some of the best ‘sickening’ vocal lines. The final track ‘Third’ is a re-recording from an earlier album, but also goes to show how ‘basic’ the band used to be in their early days. Not basic as in bad, but basic as in simple with the vocals as gurgled as they could get in the Slam or Brutal Death Metal department and the sense of frantic ear destruction with no respect for groove at all but just fast, extreme Metal that is meant to floor listeners versus suck them in. A great mosher track with buzzing guitars and a thick sound overall that is enhanced by better production of the times compared to back in the earlier 2000s.

Overall “Massive Incineration” isn’t quite the follow up to “Cold” that was hoped for, but it is far from a repeat or a stumble for the band. Vomit The Soul bring in a new influence that gives a groove chug to create an atmosphere of head banger after head banger with plenty of mosh pit drive, but at the same time loses a bit of a variety and fury as well. The album gets great marks for vocals which have improved more beyond the burp and gurgle style but still remain vicious and not quite discernible which fits the more ‘Brutal’ side of the genre while the guitars and bass and drums continue the wall of sound with the stop and go pace to create groove and hooks, but the lean of certain elements more heavily versus others make the album a little more one sided, almost falling back to their debut days with an album like “Apostles of Inexpression.” The album art is sinister and darker than before, a good hint that fans were going to get something different, and while not a stellar release, “Massive Incineration” is far from mediocre and still is a well-deserved listen for anyone who likes a quick dose Brutal Death Metal or even Slam. Unique Leader Records were smart to hold onto this somewhat unknown Italian gem that ranks up along with fellows like Pathology and Disgorge that hopefully will crank out more varied brutality in years to come without another hiatus.

4 / 5 STARS