Scaphism – “Unutterable Horrors” [Album Review]

Nothing can prepare you for what comes screaming towards you at 100 mph with Scaphism’s Unutterable Horrors. This is a fast, brutal and surprisingly catchy death metal record. Unutterable Horrors is a lot of fun!

The riffs here are great: Brutal little ditties that keep you hooked into the tracks. It’s not quite as catchy as say, 2016’s awesome collaboration between Adam D. of Killswitch Engage and George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, Serpentine Dominion, but there are some memorable moments here. The slower riffs of “Vaults of Pestilence” that build into something wickedly quick and pounding, plus the opening of “Trepanate the Undesired” are such examples. Indeed, there is a lot to like about Scaphism’s latest.

All band members perform expertly, but it is Tony Jordan that deserves a lot of praise here. His vocals are delivered with a guttural depth that is sadly missing from a fair number in the death metal scene. His deliveries cover a lot of range, whilst all containing the anger and vile that one might expect from an album titled Unutterable Horrors.

You’ll be hooked into this recording straight from the off, upon hearing the fantastically brutal “Gruesome Unmentionables and Unutterable Horrors” (which, coincidentally, is a front-runner for track name of the year already). It never lets up from there, and the short length of the record lets you appreciate what is there more. It won’t grow tired anytime soon. 2018 is off to a great, unutterably horrific start thanks to Scaphism.

Unutterable Horrors Track Listing:

01. Gruesome Unmentionables and Unutterable Horrors
02. Malapropos Cardiectomy
03. Mitte eos ad Infernos
04. Vaults of Pestilence
05. Trepanate the Undesired
06. The Feaster From the Stars
07. Excoriated and Excarnated
08. Hypovolemic Purification

Run Time: 28:59
Release Date: January 12, 2018

Get a taste of the new album with a stream of the single “Malapropos Cardiectomy”.