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Body Asphyxiation Science / Trench Foot – Intergalactic Gore [Split]

body asphyxiation science / trench foot – intergalactic gore [split]

Info

Stump Grinder Records is serving us with a split tape with two fairly unknown UK Death Metal acts, who were both featured on the VM-Underground pages with their previous demo tapes. And both of them contribute one track making this split tape not even clock in at 8 minutes in total. But, it is not about the size, they say, it is what you can do with it… So, let’s just dive in!

Basically right after their 3-track demo from October 2021 the duo of Body Asphyxiation Science returns with a one-track single called ‘Cosmic Web’, which they used for this split tape. Or they might just have pre-released it. Anyway, my colleague here at VM-Underground was really intrigued by that first demo tape. She recommended it if you were up to a power trip to escape your shitty reality. Well, were you? If you were into that a year ago, I guess you are up for another spacey expedition. And if you didn’t dare then, I challenge you again now…

This one-track song, ‘Cosmic Web’, is crafted in the same vein as the three songs that this cosmic duo released with their demo. In case you haven’t heard the band before, just to make sure: it has nothing to do with Asphyx but all the more with spacey (not Kevin) and wild, creative musical ideas. But also, if, like me, when you think of ‘Cosmic Death Metal’ you mainly think of Nocturnus, you’ll find yourself in the wrong place again. And to complicate matters further, the cheesy artwork that comes with this single might only confuse you more. Body Asphyxiation Science is bringing you very well played and recorded Death Metal of a quite technical slant, pushing you in all directions when it comes to eerie guitar leads, tempo changes and quirky jazzy touches. However, the deep vocals and nicely chugging riffs are the firm Death Metal base on which the whirling drums give this song quite a mind-boggling character. The talent of the drummer and guitarist are pushed to the fore a lot by the fresh and crisp production, which is an improvement compared to the demo. Usually I am more into music with a bit of a raw or rough edge, to prevent it to sound all too sterile and, in most cases, soulless. In this case, however, it works just perfectly. In the meantime this duo has extended their ranks to a trio, which makes it all the more promising. I agree with my colleague and give this a warm recommendation. And of course I’m curious if you’ve managed to escape from your shitty reality yet. If not, stay tuned…

The other track is brought to you by one-man Death Metal gore master Trench Foot. With his ‘Sacrificial Gore’ demo from last year Joe Bradley brought you a 4-song feast of ‘Darkest Days Of Horror’-era Mortician kind of Death Metal, down-tuned and with amazingly deep vocals. With this song that, just like Body Asphyxiation Science, was pre-released digitally by the end of last year, Bradley lost a bit of that Mortician sound. Personally I think that’s a bit of a shame, as a fan of the ultra-blunt Mortician work I could certainly enjoy it – and, frankly, you don’t hear that much anymore these days. Instead, Trench Foot sounds a lot lighter, in the sense that it is now less heavily tuned and a slightly more dynamic. If that does make any sense with this sort of music… Anyway, the dense, dark and heavy sound was traded for a sound less dense and dark and leaves more room for the technical side of the music. It doesn’t go into Suffocation, Cryptopsy or Deeds Of Flesh kind of direction, but this song shows much more diversity compared to the earlier demo. Though I really did like those first demo songs, Bradley is undoubtedly capable of pushing his Gore Machine into this direction as well. It is up to the listener what to make of it.

This is definitely a great split tape with two promising new bands, with each of them having released an (almost) equally great demo tape and, by the time I am writing this, both bands have a new EP out as well. After diving into this rather short split tape, we can get started on those two EP’s. I’m already excited!