ALBUM REVIEW: The Grotesque Arena – Feculent
The Grotesque Arena sees Australia’s FECULENT burst onto the death metal scene in tremendous style with a debut that belongs in the collection of any fan of the genre. In this swift six-track offering, the band harks back to the golden age of the genre while injecting it with the crisp, contemporary production style expected in the current decade.
Right from the off, it’s clear that FECULENT are a band that wear their influences proudly on their sleeve. Shades of 90s death metal pioneers CRYPTOPSY, DEICIDE, and CANNIBAL CORPSE permeate the entire album, but the band still manage to keep both feet firmly planted in the modern era and obliterate any risk of sounding ‘dated’.
Some bands can take some time to find their feet, leaving a debut album feeling like a showcase of potential rather than a coherent and polished final product: however, this is not the case here. Featuring members from RESIN TOMB, SHACKLES, and SNORLAX, FECULENT are anything but green. This wealth of prior experience has allowed the members to coalesce and bring forth an album that is brimming with precision and personality.
Opening with the track The Grotesque Arena: Upon Splintered Bone the album jumps right into familiar territory with the hallmarks of death metal: blast beats, gutturals, and a busy tremolo-picked guitar riff. If you’re wanting to see a fresh take on a genre well-travelled, you won’t find it here. But if what you’re looking for is some excellent old-school death metal done well, then FECULENT will be right up your alley.
Coming as one of the most memorable moments on the album is Beneath Bedlam. Venturing boldly out of the clearly defined boundaries of traditional death metal and pushing more into the realms of doom metal, this track is FECULENT making it known that they’re not just another death metal band. Droning distorted guitars are backed by booming, laboured drums that give this track a flavour that stands out amongst the frantic brutality of the rest of the album. The heavily processed vocals further play into the dark, droning soundscape and stylistically flit between the black metal staple of screams within the higher register and delay-heavy gutturals that contrast nicely throughout the track.
There is no question that The Grotesque Arena is a solid death metal release. Coming in at just under 18 minutes, it’s a gloriously brief and brutal start-to-finish experience that will no doubt leave you anticipating where FECULENT will go next. There’s no reason why any death metal fan shouldn’t pick this one up.
Rating: 7/10
The Grotesque Arena is set for release on March 19th via Brilliant Emperor Records.
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