Writhing – Of Earth & Flesh
Release Date: 23rd September 2022
Label: Everlasting Spew Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, US Death Metal, Dissonant Death Metal.
FFO: Tomb Mold, Skeletal Remains, Adramelech, Undeath, Immolation, Krisiun, and Gorguts.
Review By: Eric Wilt
Writhing caught my attention in 2020 with their Eternalised in Rot EP. It was only two songs, but the tracks balanced dissonance and OSDM in a way that promised big things to come. Now, they’re back with a full length, and they are making good on the promise they showed on the EP. Made up of Joel on guitars, Pat on vocals, Jackson on bass, and Jake on drums, the Australian four-piece has beefed up their sound by incorporating more US death metal as well as more atmospheric parts.
Monolithic Extinction begins with dissonance that will elicit comparisons to Gorguts, but said dissonance only lasts for a few seconds. Not to worry, it will return in later songs, but as for Monolithic Extinction, it becomes a brutal basher that leans more toward the Krisiun side of things (especially the drums) the rest of the way. That Which Becomes Death is pure OSDM with a middle part that slows things down to a crushing crawl before returning to the original riff. The dissonance returns in all its glory for the title track Of Earth and Flesh. Fans of Immolation will find much to enjoy in this song. Concealed Within the Soil and Uncreation are straight-ahead bangers that take their cue from US death metal. Immolation is a good point of reference for these songs as well. Finally, Portal to Unhallowed Realms finishes things up on a strong note. Not venturing far from the blueprint they followed for the rest of the album, Writhing has still found a way to make the last song on the album even heavier than any of the ones that preceded it. As the only instrumental on the album, this track chugs along with huge riffs and a slowed down tempo that combines just a touch of dissonance with unbridled heaviness.
I knew Writhing was going to be good when I first heard them, and Of Earth and Flesh definitely proves this. Fans of Immolation, Krisiun, and Gorguts will especially enjoy them, but any fan of death metal should find much to like on Writhing’s debut.
(3.5 / 5)
