Blasting out of Italy comes FERAL FORMS, a new ripping death/black metal entity that is an excellent antidote to all the snooze-worthy, boring-as-shit OSDM getting around now.
"Premalignant" doesn't fuck around and
rhino-charges at the listener right out of the gates with crushing
blasts, pounding double kick runs and throat-shredding rasps, all
reminiscent of later KNELT ROTE, CONCRETE WINDS, DIOCLETIAN and
KERASPHORUS, plus a little grinding American death metal influence. The
production job is great and very fitting - pretty harsh and as you'd expect, very "everything
all at once" in that the guitars and cymbals somewhat sit in the same
sonic space, but everything's still clear and separated in the mix.
Here and there a slightly more "esoteric" type riff pops up ala BOLZER,
used sparingly and to decent effect. The cover art is a slightly
unorthodox choice too - a positive from me as I always appreciate when a
band in this space doesn't just stick to the tired format of red logo
and white art on a black background. Overall, this is staunch, tough
shit that's a real iron-clad fist up the arse and its short run time of 11 minutes means I'm clamouring for more, especially since there's a LOT of bands over the last 20 years that have done more or less the same thing. What separates FERAL FORMS from the rest is their keen ear and ability to fine-tune what makes the best of this style work. I was into it from the moment my partner
said "you're gonna love this!" and chucked it on.
LISTEN: