Marasmus – “Mountains of Dead”

One thing I really don’t like about extreme metal is what seems at times like the obsessive need for the more underground bands to be more “sick” and “brutal” than anyone else. Band names, album covers and song titles with disgusting imagery might be cool if you’re 15 or 16 years old, but when you’re 35 years old it comes across as little more than immature. As someone who generally appreciates the more raw and extreme sounds of the underground this is a bit disheartening, as a lot of times I will really like the sound of a band, yet be totally put off by disgusting imagery or lyrics. Don’t get me wrong, I love horror, but gore for gore’s sake is just plain stupid to me.

The reason why I bring this up is because I’m generally put off by bands who are named after a disease, which is what Marasmus has done. I had to look up its meaning and what I found is that it’s a form of severe malnutrition characterized by a severe lack of energy. I guess the band is trying to be ironic or something as this is straight up death metal in the style of Suffocation and Deicide.

Despite the name, the band is actually not bad sound wise – they vary between hyper blasts and chuggy grooves that come in short bursts. The album as a whole is so short (25 minutes) that you can blink and you’ll almost miss it. That’s fine though as death metal like this really doesn’t need to be any longer. Sound-wise the band is actually quite good; they;’re really stellar when they alternate between the slow and groovy to mind numbing blast beats in the same song. Highlight track is “Another Helpless Victim”. Definitely a band to watch in the next few years.

Track Listing:

01. Among the Deceased
02. Modes of Vitriol
03. Gnostic Decimation
04. Bone Sculpture
05. Another Helpless Victim
06. Shut the Fuck Up and Die
07. Casket Made of Ivory
08. Syphilitic
09. Behold the Mountain
10. Mountains of Dead

Run Time: 25:16
Release Date: June 1, 2012

Check out the songs: “Shut the Fuck Up and Die” and “Casket Made of Ivory”