Ekron Cult - Queen of the Luxury (2009)

How many bands do you hear every day from Paraguay? How many of those can channel pure, dawn of the 90s death metal filth into an entertaining, brutal and thoroughly disgusting record? The answer to that question is one. Ekron Cult.

Queen of the Luxury is not the type of album that will in any way appeal to fans of brutal, modern, well-produced assembly line death metal. This is completely fucking evil, obscure, and raw. At times, it even feels sloppy, but more for effect than for any incompetence on the part of the trio creating this noise: The Attacker, The Antagonist and the Vandalic (yes....). The doomy, atmospheric intonations of "Re-crucity the Bastard" intro the album before an explosion into disgusting, primal death metal. The Attacker's gutturals echo over the raging torrent of axes and drums, like a necromancer warning all those who would enter his sewer lair of their impending demise. "Rot" is like a viral, hustling track which feels part ritual sacrifice and part surfing on the blood and guts of your enemies. Title track "Queen of the Luxury" is just fucking barbaric, with sick sliding guitar lines and disturbing, rumbling bass. One of the best songs I have heard this year. Other amazing tunes include "Disciple of the Horned" and "The Ancient Bringers of Sin". The band also covers "Burst Command 'til War", the Sodom classic, and it sounds pretty good.

You child of a Virgin whore
Rotten to the spine
Your reign will be no more

Sadly, this appears to be ANOTHER posthumous near-masterpiece, as the band's Metal Archives listing has them as 'split up'. It doesn't get much better than this though, so if you are a fan of disgusting, primal old school death/thrash metal like old Incantation, old Sepultura, old Sodom, old Morbid Angel, or old Venom, then you owe it to yourself to acquire this. I realize Queen of the Luxury will appeal to....myself and perhaps a dozen other people on Earth, but do the rest even matter? Get out of the fucking mirror, stop looking at yourself, grow a moustache, grow some horns, and listen to Ekron Cult. You are going to Hell either way.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (you have never played their game)

[no links...this band is that cool]