Obliterated Life, the new album from French death dealers Putrid Offal, is an exercise in gory, primitive death metal and it’s one you can take in right now. Coming five years after their debut, Sicknesses Obsessions, they’ve honed their songwriting chops and given their grindcore-infused death metal a boost.
There’s a lot of variety across the 14 songs on Obliterated Life. The shorter songs are like bursts of energy, coming in choppy, no frills blasts. The longer tracks, like “Privilege of Pain” and “Darkness Awaits,” give Putrid Offal the chance to incorporate more riffs and longform ideas. There are hints of goregrind and black metal to be found too, which keeps the album from becoming too similar.
When asked about the album, Putrid Offal told Decibel the following:
“Battle rages on. The smell of death and canon powder is everywhere. Soldiers and horses are killed by dozens alike. Blood and innards flood the battlefield. It’s all about gore, sweat, fear and taking life’s or having yours taken by the enemy but something can make a difference: how far would someone go to save the fallen?
“Obliterated Life explores the life of Dominique-Jean Larrey (1766-1842) who invented the ambulance and practiced war medicine amputating soldiers right behind the frontline, opening rib cages, extirpating bullets from entrails and suturing bowels within the rancid smell of ongoing septicemia and that’s exactly what our band of brothers in gore offers musically with this new effort!
“Wouldn’t you think you became God if you’d decide who dies and who lives to die on the battlefield? That’s how sick Dominique-Jean Larrey became. That’s how twisted “Obliterated Life” is. You’re definitely not ready for that but who cares?”
Obliterated Life is out on April 11 via Time to Kill Records, but you can listen now.
