Seven Doors - Feast of the Repulsive Dead (2023)

England's Ryan Willis has become somewhat of a commodity of late within the horror/death metal underground, launching a number of acts simultaneously and maintaining a fairly prolific release schedule over the past half-decade, managing a decent level of quality throughout. I'd covered his campy camp slasher collaboration Blood Rage not long ago, before going exploring through his other work, and one of the standouts was the debut full-length Feast of the Repulsive Dead by Seven Doors. This one caught me for its stronger songwriting, balancing out a number of influences to create something that doesn't fall too closely under the shadow of any one seminal death metal icon of the past. Looking at the cover, or perusing the song titles, you'd think you might be getting something in the vein of Cannibal Corpse or The 'Tish, but it never broadcasts an excess of brutality, honing in instead on accessible structures, solid riffs and great leads.

You can certainly catch a whiff of rancid Floridian gloom, with riffs like the lead-in to the title track channeling a bit of Leprosy or Slowly We Rot, and this is found throughout the album, with some slight touches of Chuck's more melodic riffing elsewhere. However, the meatiness of Willis' rhythm guitars and the blunt guttural catapult this into a more contemporary sound, one that might have populated the ranks of a label like Razorback Records had it come out 10-15 years ago. But Seven Doors goes further, with a lot of mosh-driven groove carving out the grave-dirt, a few tints of the more brutal death metal you'd expect, especially when the riffs ramp up in pace. It's also clearly finding its footing in the thrash roots that would later morph into that genre, in particular where he's let the guitar crunch off on its own to set up some exciting new progression. And that 'crunch' is awesome, a thick and clenching tone without going into HM-2 overdrive. But what really puts this record into the 'must own' category for me are the scorching leads in tracks like "The Morbid Mortician", well-composed and catchy flights that elevate an already-appreciable riff-set into something I want to keep spinning repeatedly. A few of the more elaborate solos do hail from guest guitarists like Paul of De Profundis, but the praise stands.

Drums are mechanistic, suited to the task and never stepping in the way, but this is one area in which the project could probably improve its personality. Don't get me wrong, the rides, the rolls, the fills, it's all placed where it needs to be, but a more acoustic kit would go a long way. I mentioned the gutturals, and they're quite solid if nothing nuanced or unique. He'll add to these some runty snarls so you're getting a more Carcass or Exhumed vibe, and I think the latter band is a pretty apt comparison...Seven Doors doesn't go as grindy as that, but it carries that same 'fun death metal' vibe that I admire so much about Harvey and crew, something I can put in the CD player and listen through without ever needing to skip tracks. Willis varies up the thrashing, the tremolo-picking, and grooves well enough while keeping consistent threads running through them, specifically the more clinical riffs he plants under some of the leads which chop out some of the most memorable moments across the album.

Thematically this guy likes his guts and gore, and Seven Doors certainly sounds evil enough to honor those zombie and slasher flicks, although it's not too heavy on atmosphere or dissonance. This is more 'Hatchet' or its sequels than 'The Shining', if that makes any sense, a workmanlike and entertaining effort with plenty of muscle in the production and performance, but not likely to haunt your dreams in between listens. We're so deep into the death metal generations by now that I'm sure many purists will find this style arbitrary and recycled, but I've found as I get older that I just don't grow tired of a well crafted album like this one. Good for Halloween, good for horror buffs, great for death metal fans approaching from a number of directions, whether old school or more extreme and gore-splattered. I hope Ryan will prioritize Seven Doors among his legion of output so we can get more in the future. 

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://sevendoorsdm.bandcamp.com/