Undead - Existential Horror (2019)

If you put Existential Horror on the turntables for me while you had me in a blindfold, no access to any other information beyond the sound, I'd surmise that this was yet another band playing on that 'uglier' fringe of classic Swedish death metal. The rhythms have a punk-like push to them akin to the Discharge influence adapted by many in that scene, though they don't always do this through the traditional D-beat. A lot of the faster tremolo riffs here definitely take me back to the debuts by Dismember and Entombed, the guitar tone has that abrasive density, and the vocals are just horrific growls, with a good level of sustain on some lines, but they don't really delve far into the morbid guttural depths. The mix of the album is also putrid and raw, clearly not going for that later death & roll punch but something totally putrescent for the cemetery-minded.

So imagine my surprise that this is a Spanish band, and with the blindfold off, I can now see the very cool if minimalist horror film artwork that instantly gives off its Fulci zombie vibes. Which, admittedly, is a great fit for this sound, and not only do I like the look of the album, but also the tunes. In saying that, though, I do feel like I'm breaking a few personal rules, because I think Existential Horror is a record with an overall entertainment value that is sketched together from some fairly average components. Most of the riff patterns play out in accordance with those we've heard thousands of time, there is little variation and they it wouldn't kill them to spurt out some surprising melodies or dissonant twists to help spice up the festivities. The pacing is largely the same throughout the track-list, with a couple points where they break it down to something almost more mid-speed, or early Death-like in the tremolo-picked groove of "Curse of the Undead", and if I'm not quite in the mood, this debut can feel quite monotonous...

But I still like it. The earthy guitar tone feels like dead meat being packed in a morgue, the bass is thick and swarthy, and the tinny crashing of the drums proves to be a cool foil for the other instruments. If a lead erupts, it's usually messy and ugly and distorted sounding but somehow works for all its flaws, and the vocalist has that cool, raving mid-range growl which feels perfectly hostile among the grimness of the band's carnal momentum. I know that if I stop to think about it, parts of this could feel dull, it's certainly not an album I'm listening to based upon the strengths of its individual riffs or solos, but more from a general gore-whore sensibility where I'm beholden to some frenzied carnage and don't need to think much beyond the pain of every blow from the meat tenderizing, every tendon clipped by the scalpel, every limb hacked off by the chainsaw and then used to bludgeoning someone else. It's a sugar rush of morbid intensity that offers nothing more or less than what it promises from the cover.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.curseoftheundead.com/