Forever Below, the first long player from New Jersey-based blackened death dealers Putrascension, is the way that the genre should be played. Sharing members with Tombs, Replicant, Windfaerer, Hammer Fight and more than another dozen regional acts, Putrascension execute the songs on Forever Below with an equal combination of aggression and style.
The songwriting on Forever Below doesn’t go super far beyond its collective influences, which tend to be melodic black metal and death metal with occasional flashes of metallic hardcore and black ‘n’ roll, but it nails those influences. Vocalist Michael Gonçalves shrieks and moans ghoulishly, while guitarists Dan Higgins and Joe Fonseca go to work. Putrascension are at their best when calling upon their Dissection, Uada and Dawn influences, though their discordant death metal leanings hit the spot too.
Things on Forever Below peak with the excellent fourth track “Stillness,” which utilizes atmosphere and melody to pull the listener in. “Efface” displays the band’s death metal side and features some of Gonçalves’ best wails. Putrascension put their most-ambitious foot forward on album closer “Meslamtaea,” named after the Mesopotamian god. Starting with acoustic strumming, the song holds the listener for its seven-minute runtime.
Horror Pain Gore Death will release Forever Below on Friday, but Decibel partnered with the label to stream it early. Listen below.
