VASTUM "Orificial Purge"

VASTUM

"Orificial Purge"

Of all the doomy and filthy style death metal bands emerging from California in recent years, VASTUM is arguably the biggest and best. NECROT fans may disagree...that's OK, it's good to have a luxury of choices. After a bit of a layoff, the perversion obsessed VASTUM is now back in action with "Orificial Purge" and a close listen will reveal why they are a cut above most new death metal.

It would be easy to lump this in with many of the other "bestial" or "cavernous" DM bands going for INCANTATION style primitivism. That does VASTUM a grave disservice, because you can detect more atmosphere and also more complex song stylings than many such bands. Past the brutal death grunts and thick evil riffs, there are some advanced guitar melodies going on in "Dispossessed In Rapture" (First Wound) and "Reveries in Autophagia". It's not just cat strangling noise. The tune "Abscess Inside Us" even has a strong overtone of straight forward thrash metal chugging to it...logical, since VASTUM comes from the Bay Area. They also factor in some very ominous atmospheric stuff, best head on the final track "His Sapphic Longing", which is a virtual symphony of horror.

The band is also more than meets the eye when it comes to lyrics. On the surface, they seem to be pretty "sick" and dealing with sexual hangups. But this is not done in a cheap and nasty way and seems much more focused on the deep psychology of such neuroses.

Just six tunes on "Orificial Purge" but the quality is there. A very strong band and release.

20 BUCK SPIN

VASTUM