Garoted is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a new album.
Formed in the United States in 2008, the band featuring Drew Frerking (guitar, Cataphract, Varlok, Verräter), Nolan Weber (drums, Cataphract, Varlok, Verräter, Vänlade), J. Tennant (bass, Vänlade) and more recently Devon Ferrera (vocals, Marasmus) has announced the release of Bewitchment of the Dark Ages, their fourth album, through Lavadome Productions in 2023.
The album starts with Infernal Death’s Majesty, where the band develops an abrasive and frantic Old School Death Metal. Blasts and bloody riffs mix under raw vocal parts, letting energetic patterns continuously lacerate us before braking very slightly to let Black Canticle Of Horror take over with a catchy groovy approach which perfectly fits the crushing sound. Scathing leads are also part of the game, completing the permanent aggressiveness the band builds, then Rites of Sinister Defilement unveils more complex influences, which perfectly sticks with visceral rage. Musicians don’t leave us any dead time, unswerving chaining their waves of brutality before smothering them for a few seconds on the final, followed by Pestiferous, a devastating composition which also adopts some darker influences without denying the raw and efficient patterns, with notably a jerky moshpart before letting Khaos Soul Pandemonium take over. Rhythmic and leads combine again with vocal parts to leave no moment of respite while provoking a furious desire to nod by following the fast tempo, then Arcane Shadow Idolatry unveils us an ominous intro sample. After this dark voice’s few words, overpowering riffs resurface at full speed, even offering a few slightly groovy passages between two Old School accelerations, then Unfathomable Manifestation mercilessly bludgeons us under a rain of blast fed with chainsaw-sounding riffs. Rage never seems to dry up, even when the band slows down to let crazy leads drive us to Harkening to the Age of Blood & Plague, the last composition, which won’t hesitate to develop an epic sound, combined with the waves of violence the band is used to and which will remain just as effective until the very last second.
Death Metal has no more secrets for Garoted, and the band doesn’t hesitate to let us know it, delivering with Bewitchment Of The Dark Ages a collection of powerful and catchy riffs that will find its place beside the founders of the style.
90/100