ALBUM REVIEW: Wombspreader – Eggs Of Gomorrh
Fresh from a three-year hiatus, Geneva, Switzerland-based peddlers of filthy and fearsome extremity EGGS OF GOMORRH have finished incubating their latest crusade against all things happy and hopeful. Titled Wombspreader, this new entry into their already intimidating catalogue immediately speaks volumes with its fairly horrifying cover art, but will it have the bones to match?
From the outset, EGGS OF GOMORRH do not mess around. Degrading Manifesto begins with a grating, angular riff underlaid with punishing machine-gun drum work. Much in the same vein as their earlier material, it is intense and drenched in searing vitriol. Following up such a scorching opener is no easy task, but the double-pronged assault of Flail Of Obedience and Disciples Of Terror reveal an impressively brutal showroom of wickedly sharp, scouring riffs and grinding bursts of tooth-jarring snare, unveiling white-hot flashes of sheer aggression like pulses from the nastiest quasar in the known universe.
On the title track, Wombspreader, we almost impossibly see the throttle opened up even further. Nobody could ever have accused EGGS OF GOMORRH of holding back exactly, but they may definitely have been keeping a small reserve in the tank for this one. It’s packed with razor-wire riffing and an as-ever impressive rhythm section. The sheer speed with which the bulk of the track is executed is almost exacerbated by the brief allowance of breathing space in the form of some brief glimpses of mid-paced crunchy riffing, however, once the tether is once more removed, the heft of the track hits like an inquisitor’s scourge.
Mid-point break Da Svartdod Nalkas carries with it cavernous drums, harsh electronic feedback and oppressive atmosphere, calling to mind some kind of grim visage of a shattered, post-apocalyptic world. It’s an impossibly bleak segment of what could very loosely be referred to as respite before we are dropped headlong into Necrosadistic Charm, a jagged construction of half-buried poisonous melodies and crushingly heavy slab-like guitar chords, all meshed together with discordant flair and more than a whiff of grindcore sensibilities.
Following on from the grating, bile-flecked hate-anthem of Execution Climax, we find Eggomorph. Despite having a name reminiscent of some kind of terrible, slime-filled 90s toy, this is actually one of the album’s strongest tracks. It’s almost drowning in riffs that are so sharp they feel like they could be used to saw a septic leg off. Particularly of note here as well is the superb vocal performance of frontman B.N.G.V., who’s tremendous mixture of unhinged yet commanding growls are running at absolute peak here.
In the closing moments of Wombspreader, we move from the weirdest to the most unnerving of the album’s titles, Haterape Oblivion. This track is utterly scorching, with its blistering pace and searing rage at times feeling like it may well strip you to the bone, but it also has an undeniable groove to its later moments that probably wasn’t something to be expected. Closer Nefarious Incision is a definite culmination of everything that’s gone into the rest of the album. It’s tight and incredibly complex, while still retaining the abject savagery that EGGS OF GOMORRH bring to pretty much everything they do. A particular highlight of this closing monster is the dichotomy of pulverisingly heavy slow crunch and the nuclear hellfire of the almost unbearably fast material. If you don’t need a sit down, a cup of tea and a cigarette by the end of this one, there is something seriously wrong with you.
By the time the last notes of Wombspreader have whistled past your ears, you may well have realised that the caustic racket made by EGGS OF GOMORRH almost defies explanation; in much the same way that the very best extreme music often takes cues from all across the heavy spectrum, boils them all down and renders them into something that exceeds the sum of its parts. Think of the first DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT album, how it is some kind of blackened, deathlike sludge monster flecked with grind riffs and murky, terrifying atmosphere, yet which somehow doesn’t fit into any category. Wombspreader has an eerily similar feeling to it, and if the progression between Rot Prophet and this is anything to go by, we should all be shaking in our boots for what comes next.
Rating: 9/10
Wombspreader is out now via Godz Ov War Productions.
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