ALBUM REVIEW: Nail Below Nail – Organectomy
New Zealand based outfit ORGANECTOMY have enjoyed a lot of success in their career, sharing the stage with titans of the death metal world such as CATTLE DECAPITATION and ABORTED. The highly anticipated follow-up to 2019’s Existential Disconnect entitled Nail Below Nail is due for release on July 8th via Unique Leader Records, will this release assist in their rise to prominence?
Concrete doesn’t waste a moment plunging right into pummelling drum beats and gruesome riffing. Guttural bursts are unleashed in vicious fashion. Nail Below Nail continues the waves of ferocity with crushing instrumentation. The madness slickly transitions between swift execution and rhythmic bombardment. Cult of Excess exudes despair and dismay with its gloomy, barbaric nature. There are plenty of hooks to be found as the tempo switches. The Third Mutation offers up a feast of slam, delivering numerous courses of bludgeoning musicianship.
Fragments of Grey Matter sustains the aural assault, conjuring up destructive slabs of groove-ridden insanity. Ulcerborne injects some chilling melodic tones into the mix to break up the savagery. This choice of dynamics really provides some additional meat on the gnawed bones and stops predictability setting in. Breeding Chaos returns to familiar territory with the intent of mangling your body until you’re nothing but a pile of viscera. The leadwork which is introduced helps elevate the track. Entranced by Calamity surges onwards with a formidable round of rapid drumming. The ebbing and flowing pacing keeps you on your toes.
Ill-Conceived runs riot as strings of punishing riff segments continue to hammer away. As it progresses the track does become particularly formulaic, not really bringing anything to the table to get you excited barring the closing flourish. Entrapped Savagery creates a spark of redemption with enticing groove and a powerful stride. When ORGANECTOMY are in the zone they know how to pack a punch. This mental spills over into Malicious Contortions which reels you in with some impressive bouts of fury to keep the momentum flowing. Coerced Through Submersion welcomes you with a grisly vocal outburst and does just about enough to maintain your focus before departing.
ORGANECTOMY are clearly proficient musicians and have a designated style in mind. The only downside is you get a sense of deja-vu throughout the passages of Nail Below Nail, like you’ve already ventured down this path before. Slam infused death metal is a tried and tested method and despite some moments of intrigue where it broke the mould of expectations this release is unlikely to grab the attention of listeners who haven’t already got a preconceived idea of what they’re getting themselves into. An enjoyable listen but not something which urges you to revisit.
Rating: 7/10
Nail Below Nail is set for release on July 8th via Unique Leader Records.
Like ORGANECTOMY on Facebook.