SAVAGE REALM – NOCTURNAL SAVAGERY (2016)
Lich (RIP) already did the whole ‘effortlessly heaviest band in the UK’ thing for a few years, and now four members have decided to give it another shot as Savage Realm, who are resuming business by swapping out some of the crust/sludge leanings for hazy, otherworldly, hideously detuned death metal. The woozy tremolo melodies in ‘The Sea Of Claws’ and ‘So As Below’ sound like they’re being melted, and although they play loose in parts, it’s a case of giving you enough rope to slip around your neck before snapping tight with grinding, mechanical indifference. The guitars plummet down in to a gloopy murk so thick they don’t need copious amounts of distortion, so far down that you might miss the devastating beatdowns that they sneak in in between grim blasts and cavernous atmospherics. Every one of the four tracks is saturated with grisly character and conviction, and it’s hard to fathom who would dislike this, such is the quality.
Routine Stomps 