Metaphobic – Deranged Excruciations
Release Date: 28th February 2024
Label: Everlasting Spew Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Monstrosity, Demilich, Faceless Burial, early Gorguts.
Review By: Eric Wilt
Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, new kids on the block Metaphobic are here to bring the ruckus with their debut album Deranged Excruciations. Playing a style of death metal that is influenced by the old guard of the genre and features touches of death doom and dissonance, Metaphobic have created an album that is an enjoyable ride every time you listen to it. Comprised of vocalist Danny Dasher, guitarists Peter Lai and Shawn Staszko, bassist and backing vocalist Dan Ratanasit, and drummer Nathan McKinney, Metaphobic’s debut album sounds like it came from a veteran band not a new one.
Spectral Circle, the first track on the album, is some fairly straightforward death metal, briskly paced, lots of blast beats and tremolo picking, intense gutturals, all the trappings we’ve come to expect and love from the genre with one tiny exception. Emphasis on tiny, as the guitar solo only lasts about four seconds. To paraphrase Everett McGill, George Clooney’s character in the Coen Brothers’ classic Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, a four-second guitar solo “would only arouse my appetite without beddin’ ‘er back down.” I’ve heard you should leave them wanting more, but it feels like the band missed a really great opportunity to see where that solo was going to go. Fortunately, that’s the only opportunity the band missed.
As you delve further into the album, it becomes readily apparent that Metaphobic are no one-trick pony and that brief solo in the first song was a fluke because Staszko can wail. While they never stray far from your typical death metal, they don’t remain in one lane the entire time either. Mental Deconstruction and Disciples of Vengeance lean hard into the death doom, with the latter song slowing things down to a glacial pace. Execration delves into some odd time signatures to the dissonance loving ears of this reviewer. Veiled Horizons, probably the strongest song on a really strong album, is a cavernous death doom track with a standout guitar solo.
Metaphobic may be relatively new, but Deranged Excruciations is really well done. For anyone who loves death metal and discovering new bands, Metaphobic should be at the top of your list of bands to check out. After repeated listens of Deranged Excruciations, I have a feeling that Metaphobic will become one of the big names in the genre in the next five to ten years.
(4 / 5)
