Vomiturition - Head Tales EP (1993)

Head Tales was the Finnish band's first signing through Invasion Records, and while it might look just as dumb or dumber than the previous EP, the production here is far more brazen, the riffs better and it's just so much more promising, OSDM to the bone. While I still don't believe Vomiturition had as interesting an approach to their genre as several of their countrymen did, this was at least competent and catchy enough to warrant a little excitement. Considering how fans of this style aggressively comb through the ancient death metal texts to find gems of this nature, I'm almost surprised that Head Tales doesn't get more of a mention, it's exactly what so many of them are looking for, and the cheesy head-creature on the cover is worth a gag for 80s horror buffs.

Some of this is actually pretty catchy, like the tremolo picked rhythm in "Falling", or the dank rhythms and vile harmonies that pop up through the flesh of "One's Belief". Or the bass intro to "Ancient Psychotherapy". They get some thick chords here redolent of Obituary, the drumming is quite busy with a lot of solid double bass rhythms and fills, and the vocals are much more gruesome and memorable than on the release before. They even add in a few lines that are a step below, super-guttural like you might have heard on Symphonies of Sickness. It's not all killer material, but it's certainly not filler, and this was a brief, efficient setup for their sole full length effort a leftover that would follow a few years later. Probably impossible to find in any physical format these days, but worth a download or a stream if you can find one.

Verdict: Win [7/10]