There truly is nothing quite like death metal that finds itself at home on the very floor of the underground scene. Nastiness the likes of which you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the world of metal much less music as a whole, filthy death metal is a devastating thing when in the right hands with it being what many seek and incredibly few are able to truly capitalize and succeed with. When we do come across such an act, there is always a commotion to be had should it find even a slightly wide audience with its praises sung even as the tendencies of the band itself refuse to rise above that nasty, seething floor to ascend through the underground. In the case of Rotheads, I can’t help but feel such a scenario will play out that way yet again.
In more ways than one, this is nasty old-school death metal at its most straightforward. Not a single moment is wasted by Rotheads in this performance as they pull directly from the 90s Finnish scene to lend them tremendous power and know-how to make their latest effort of nastiness, “Slither in Slime”, potent all the way from beginning to end without so much as a microsecond of incompetency to be had. Jam-packed with murderous riffs and an unending thirst for blood that is brought together terrifically by a production that feels absolutely on-point for the time period that is being emulated here as Rotheads shows a clear understanding of the sound they’ve come to love, admire, and now perpetuate with their own material. With all that being said, however, it needs to be made viciously clear that this is a creation entirely of Rotheads. They pull from a particular sound, yes, but the very being of “Slither in Slime” is no cheap copy nor anything that one can simply slap together and dish out like it’s some revolutionary creation. Instead, this performance is a tremendous example of what it means to keep the sound going immensely strong as we move forward with new blood always needed in order to keep that original flame burning with Rotheads doing just that and more with all they delivered in the horrific halls that “Slither in Slime” calls home.
You can make the argument all day that there isn’t much to be said about this record given it can very well feel like a dime a dozen given how fervent the underground has become in our current digital age, but the sheer power and tenacity of what Rotheads has delivered here simply cannot be underestimated. “Slither in Slime” does not reinvent the sound by any level whatsoever, but it’s in the sheer expertise for this sound that we’re given an effort that is far more than what I think most would assume before heading into the dark depths of what’s to be uncovered here.
LISTEN to “Slither in Slime” on Bandcamp here.
LIKE Rotheads on Facebook here.
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