ALBUM REVIEW: Mass Failure – Scordatura

Since spawning from the murky underworld of Glasgow, Scotland as a bunch of young teenagers back in 2005, SCORDATURA have continued to evolve and impress. Their third full length release entitled Mass Failure is available now via Gore House Productions and whilst this year is already rammed with incredible releases, this will be one you will certainly not want to overlook!

Disease Of The Mind comes hurtling in like a freight train with vicious vocal blasts, crushing blast beats and blistering riff work. With music this technical and bone-jarring, the production has to be precise otherwise a lot of the intricate layers get lost in translation. Fear not as SCORDATURA sound as sharp as a bag of knives, piercing your skull with zero remorse. Skin Trophy kicks off with thunderous bass lines and further punishing intensity. Whilst predominantly being utterly barbaric the instrumentation is also laced with an addictive pace and groove drenched riffing that isn’t too much of an endurance test to digest. Nothing But Dust continues the frantic beating injecting venomous screams and varied tempo shifts that stop you getting too comfortable. Rapid-fire drum segments come flowing thick and fast to add an extra level of unrelenting chaos.

Contorted Existence takes a more restrained approach in the initial stages but soon returns to the established level of ferocity, adding some chilling voice clips detailing the exploits of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer for a further dash of evil. Frontman Daryl Boyce displays his many vocal talents, chopping and changing between skin searing screams and bellowing growls. World Devoured refuses to let the incendiary levels of intensity waiver for even a second as additional instances of bludgeoning riffs and perplexing drum beats leave your head in a spin. This track also proves that SCORDATURA are as devastating when they hit the brakes as they are when they go hell for leather. The Flesh That Hates dives straight into fast, frenzied vocal deliveries that match the breakneck speed instrumentation. The guitar work throughout is devilishly infectious, combining pure savagery with sheer catchiness.

Mass Failure keeps the juggernaut powering on with another shedload of exhilarating riffing, demanding the follically blessed to flail their glorious manes in adrenaline-fuelled exuberance. The turbocharged riff onslaught of Immense Atrocity insists on battering what is left of your shell of an anatomy, pummelling you with swift shredding and a spine-tingling vocal assault. Some may be relieved to hear that the end is almost in sight so that they can escape from this unrelenting beatdown but the opening segment of Collapse Of Humanity pounds you with hammering drum work and brutal guitar volleys to ensure that you will not witness one ounce of reprieve until this album is finished with you.

With this release SCORDATURA have springboarded themselves from a promising underground death metal prospect to fully-fledged front runners. Mass Failure has everything you could ever hope for in a death metal release and it doesn’t lose momentum for even a split second. It is without doubt that as soon as it is safe to do so the rabid metal community will be flocking to witness this Scottish powerhouse destroy venues with this colossal arsenal at their disposal.

Rating: 9/10

Mass Failure is out now via Gore House Productions.

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