Organectomy – Nail Below Nail
Release Date: 8th July 2022
Label: Unique Leader Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Brutal Death Metal, Slam.
FFO: Devourment, Analepsy, Disgorge, Disentomb.
Review By: Trina Julian Edwards
On July 8th, Christchurch City, New Zealand kings of brutal slamming death metal, Organectomy, release their third full-length studio album, Nail Below Nail. The album features Matt Bolch on guitar, Tyler Jordan on bass, Alex Paul on vocals, Sam McRobert on guitar, and Levi Sheehan on drums. Lyrical themes focus on the typical blood, gore, and depravity, but with a sci-fi twist to complete this tale of horror and destruction.
The first track and the first single, Concrete, lives up to its name. It’s a thick, heavy accretion of sound that will have that pit churning and seething from the opening riff. The changing dynamics serve to take a bite out of the hammering assault, yet they somehow add even more mass, and that slam down is a thing of beauty. Right from the start this is a highlight of the album and a harbinger of things to come. The title track, Nail Below Nail, continues in a similar vein. For the most part, it’s very direct and straightforward. The riffs give a nod to the techy side without changing the overall tone of the track. The rhythm is not overcomplicated, but it’s tight and precise. The sinister leads that slide in after the slam down – no rests here, friends – add to the overall unsettling vibe.
Cult of Excess likewise hints at a more technical ideation, but it never veers too far from the mosh mentality. Not that this is a bad thing. The varying dynamics keep things chugging along, and Alex Paul throws in some higher tones in the vocals that punctuate the slower tempo sections nicely. The Third Mutation is another favorite. I heard a friend describe it as “meaty” and I can’t get that description out of my head. The slower, mid-tempo groove on this track is everything that is good about slam. Fragments of Grey Matter is a slower tempo track, but its ponderous weight is livened up with some diverting moving leads and interesting rhythmic patterns.
Ulcerborne changes the pace a bit at the halfway point of the album. This track floats in with a lighter, atmospheric guitar intro that morphs into this gorgeous, malevolent instrumental piece. The guitar work is exceptional; at times it’s massive and almost sluggish, at others it’s brisk and agile, and the relentless, battering rhythm underscoring the whole is the perfect compliment. Breeding Chaos jumps back in with a more technical flair, giving us tons of frenetic leads and twisty rhythmic change-ups intertwined with the enormous riffs. The vocals are also worth noting, as Paul’s lows here are just nasty.
Entranced by Calamity gives listeners another killer, mid-tempo mountain of a track that delivers with concussive force. The solos beguile you with some 90s groove-metal finesse and I can’t get enough of that high/low vocal harmony, if you will. Ill-Conceived comes crashing in with that heart-pounding machine-gun fire drumming we know and love. The tempo changes highlight the different intervals of the arrangement, and each section feels weightier and more deliberate than its predecessor. The instrumental segments are really well-placed and well done here, especially the speedy intro and outro. Entrapped Savagery throws down with a colossal groove right off the bat. Nothing fancy here, just mosh-inducing, chest-beating gorilla aggression, and it’s glorious.
Malicious Contortions keeps the mosh-fest going. After the rapid intro, it drops down into a nice little mid-tempo stomp to get the blood moving. The rhythm highlights some lovely legato notes followed by these choking rests, like a signal that has been abruptly cut off. We also get some serious slowdowns in this track – more like proper breakdowns – before it rapidly picks up speed and shifts gear again. The final track, Coerced Through Submersion, kicks off with another mid-tempo slammy groove. Lively leads play off the gigantic riffs, but that slow, hulking rhythm dragging this track to its conclusion is just evil, and I love it.
Overall, Nail Below Nail continues the work of 2019’s Existential Disconnect, keeping the focus on barefaced brutality without any gimmicks. Modern slam can sometimes fall into the trap of repetitiveness, often committing the sin of too many breakdowns, but Nail Below Nail mostly avoids this trap by mixing in plenty of techy elements and the best of old school brutal death metal. The production quality is excellent, but one would expect no less from Miguel Tereso of Demigod Recordings. If you’re a slam fan or a devotee of brutal death metal, you don’t want to miss Nail Below Nail.
(4 / 5)
