Get ready for Gory Blister.
Founded in Italy in 1991 by Raff Sangiorgio (guitar/bass), the band is now joined by Gianluca D’Andria (drums, 6th Counted Murder, ex-Orthodox) and Paolo « St. John » John (vocals, Joads, ex-Orthodox) and signed to Eclipse Records in 2023, releasing Reborn from Hatred, their seventh album.
The album kicks off with From Ashes…, a rather dark intro on which retro keyboards appear to guide us to Push Out the Venom, which offers aggressive Old School Death. The raw vocal parts obviously strengthens the sound’s rage, which sometimes features a few ominous harmonics before a heavy break, but jerky riffs soon return as they do on Relentless Fear, which also offers us energetic Thrash influences, and perfectly complements the thick rhythmics. The band moves towards a faster approach with Profound Sedation, which doesn’t hesitate to use a devastating double kick to cover the sharpest accelerations, as well as harmonics for the quiet moment before Unexpected Livings follows with similar, equally ferocious patterns. A darker passage introduces the solo, then the band unveils a relatively heady final, which also fits the eerie atmosphere of This Blood is Forever, a strange, oppressive interlude, but the riffs return on Reborn from Hatred, the eponymous track. The band’s raw roots return, but they also indulge in mysterious backing vocals and heavy leads, before Greedy Existence takes on a more virulent tone while remaining in the same wild vein. The band immediately follows up with Signs from Beyond and its frantic riffs, from which escape a few sharp leads skilfully placed to maximize the aggression, then the band returns to waves of acceleration on Generation Ship, which retains its aggressive Old School roots to make us shake our heads one last time, before welcoming back the keyboards on … To Flames, an outro that joins in with the introductory tones, albeit with a few heady lead parts.
Gory Blister is definitely not a beginner, and the band exactly knows how to build solid riffs to make Reborn from Hatred an effective album that still ends a bit quickly.
80/100