by Mick Reed (@thasoundblog)
We appear to still be in the throes of an old school death metal revival folks, in case you thought this was a phenomenon restricted to 2019 (and 2018, 2017, ’16… actually, has ever NOT been a death metal revival on the horizon?). If you were one of those carrion craving lunatics who ate up Tomb Mold’s Planetary Clairvoyance or Blood Incantation’s Hidden History of the Human Race, then the thought may have run through that rotten melon-rind of a mind of yours that no one has catered to your specific, and oddly temporal, tastes in music within the past week. Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that Profound Lore has just dropped Death Posture, the debut LP of the OSDM styled carbuncle Caustic Wound. The bad news (maybe for you) is that this release signals that we’ve entered the deathgrind stage of this revival cycle. If you can’t fuck with Brutal Truth and Terrorizer, show yourself the door.
Caustic Wound comes to us skulking out of the Pacific Northwest. This miserable marshal of malcontents counts the likes of guitarists Chase Slaker and Max Bowman and bassist Tony Wolfe of Mortiferum amongst its ranks, trudging forward to the slavish pummel of Cerebral Rot drummer Casey Moore, with Fetid vocalist Clyle Lindstrom clearing the path before them with a performance that blanches like dragon’s breath. The call back to Tomb Mold earlier isn’t entirely inappropriate here, while Caustic Wound veers sharply into Incantation territory and away from Death worship, Death Posture cultivates a formidable cloud of atmosphere, which, while not as high concept as Tomb Mold’s body-horror museum soundtracks, still manages to invoke a dense sense of morbid foreboding. This is especially true of the claustrophobic, concrete coffin “Invisible Cell” and the acidic cavern-crawling churn of “Visions of Torture.” What really works about the atmosphere here is that it’s not just a consequence of the recording and production, but acts more like a fifth member of the band, with its imposing, physical presence and corrosive attitude.
Had Caustic Wound had a place in the death metal scene of the late ‘80s, it would have been surprising to not see Death Posture circulating under the Earache imprint. “Black Bag Asphyxiation” has a sickly World Downfall aura about it, while “Ritual Trappings” spears you with a groove fashioned from the bones of an early Morbid Angel track, and the dirty cranium-separating stomp of “Guillotine” has the stench of Scum all over it. Surprisingly, the most hardcore punk influenced number on the album is actually the title, a terror-inducing, aural roasting reminiscent of last year’s Fuming Mouth LP, The Grand Descent.
Caustic Wound may sound like they’re trying to forget the last thirty or so years of metal evolution. Still, the satisfyingly well-balanced production and dedication to deeply unnerving ambiance betray the sensibilities of a band thoroughly living in the heavy soundscapes of the here and now. Death Posture may not be trying to exist in the past, but they may still be your closest bet this spring to revisiting the glory of that first time anyone had their brains liquefied by Reek of Putrefaction.