Formed as a side project from members of horror-and-gore themed death metal band Marrow and crusty death-thrash warriors Burning Axe in 2013, Putrisect represent one of the heaviest death metal outfits to crank out of Baltimore, Maryland in ages. The deeper you dig into these folk’s extraneous and related projects you’ll find each has their fingers in some sort of punk or extreme metal related misanthropy yet, it was clear from ‘Chaos Awaits’ (2014) EP that this one was meant to be a guided missile of slapping and serious death. Initially guided by a healthy influence from early British death metal and a hint of Asphyx now Putrisect arrive with their own haunting sound four years later with ‘Cascading Inferno’.

Belching from a deeper buried coffin than before, the layers of rot and grime dripping from Putrisect will first guide your ear to an impossibly cavernous vocal thanks to Evan Harting (Neolithic, Quills) along with the sort of Benediction-meets-Incantation style of riffing that fans of Cruciamentum and Cemetery Filth will warm up to quickly. All of these elements appear through some adversity as the band’s original vocalist had to duck out in 2016 just as they’d taken off thanks to splits with Scorched and Funebrarum among others. Despite this adjustment it appears the guitarists have made some great headway in providing arrangements that emphasize riff and atmosphere alike and as such ‘Cascading Inferno’ represents the sort of sound I can’t entirely put my finger on. The pacing alternates between compositions a fair amount going from death/doom crawl a la fellow Blood Harvest alumni Abythic all the way up to cavernous death/thrash horror. The sound is fully rounded and not so specifically influenced that Putrisect could be accused of ‘worship’ in any cumulative sense.

Therein lies both ‘pro’ and ‘con’ for Putrisect‘s sound: On one hand their sound offers versatility in terms of old school death metal theatrics but on the other hand it all blends together into a less unique vision without any defining characteristics beyond an enormous reverberating growler. Every aspect of ‘Cascading Inferno’ is up to par and yet none of it goes off the rails beyond its inherent equal representation of classic death metal. To be fair I’ve said the same thing about Cruciamentum and Skeletal Remains for years and there is little gravity for it being a seriously damning detraction. I’d like to see what the band comes up with on a full-length because even if they stuck with this level of songwriting and riffcraft it’d still be damned noteworthy. The possibilities are thrilling, especially considering the amplification of their death/thrash and late 80’s death metal styled compositions. Moderately high recommendation as I think there is a truly badass sound guiding a ‘something for everyone’ set of songs here.

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