CORRUPTER – Descent into Madness

From the fiery pits of the French metal underground comes the 2-man outfit Corrupter, and this skilled duo shows great promise and potential here. “Descent into Madness” is a rather short and concise affair that encapsulates much of what I love about raw, filthy black/death metal.

These nine sinister hymns are unbelievably dark and the murky sound as well as the gritty feel of the cursed endeavor only highlights just how sickening and evil this thing really is. Dynamics are an essential ingredient in the group’s claustrophobic and horror-filled sphere of sound, and the way in which they alternate so fluidly between aggressive, fast-paced parts and slow, morbid sections capable of frying your brain is quite impressive. Twisted riffs and dissonant passages add an uneasy and unsettling vibe to the proceedings, and despite its lack of originality, the LP still seems to harbor a certain atmosphere and style of its own. Pulverizing and punishing but also overflowing with an unholy aura and absolutely packed to the rafters with wildly efficient riffs and vocals that lack neither power nor conviction, this half-hour vortex is a great example of how to churn out ugly death metal in style. As a matter of fact, the tracks titled “A Mistaken Anointing of the Sick” and “Home for the Dead” are brutal slices of brilliance and two of the best death metal cuts that I have come across for quite some time.