Rotpit has already released its second album.
Long Live the Rot, a collaboration between German vocalist Ralf Hauber (vocals, Heads for the Dead, Revel in Flesh) and Swedish musicians Johnny Pettersson (guitar/bass, Heads for the Dead, Ursinne, Wombbath, ex-Ashcloud, ex-Berzerker Legion, ex-Just Before Dawn, ex-Massacre…) and Erik Barthold (drums, Darklands, Left Hand Solution), is released in 2024 via War Anthem Records.
We begin with Sewer Rot, a pure product of Old School Death Metal, as dirty and macabre as you could wish for, which features a very short introduction before letting all its heaviness express itself via thick riffs. The rhythm remains fairly simple, but is nonetheless incredibly effective, as is Massive Maggot Swarm, which begins with a more haunting approach, despite rapidly energetic drums, before the entire composition ignites. The waves of violence hit us at full force before slowing down again to lead us into Long Live The Rot, where the sound is even more crushing and oppressive, reminding me of a decadent march punctuated by more virulent passages. The aggression continues with Eat Or Be Eaten and its jerky approach, which perfectly serves the groovy, thick sound the band has managed to create, before The Triumph Of Rot takes over with yet another acceleration, creating a torrent of musical rage where dissonant leads are forcibly integrated to feed the disturbing aspect of the track. The pace remains fast with Tunnel Rat, contributing to the abrasive sound despite some more melodic peaks thanks to soaring harmonics, but the band returns to a more impressive sound with Dirt Dwellers, letting dissonance compete with a massive crushing basis. Funeral Mock begins with quite the same elements, but is soon energized by virulent Old School touches and a choppy rhythm, before returning to a slower pace on Rotfreak, but eruptions of savagery are never far away. The regularity of the track is disturbed, alternating between rapidity and dull moments, before OutRot vomits out the last of the brutality the band is capable of, closing the album.
Rotpit embodies what we’ve come to expect from Old School Death Metal: whether slow or more virulent, the sound is thick, heavy and massive, while occasionally being complemented by dissonance, ominous sounds or impressive vocal parts. Long Live the Rot is a perfect name.
90/100
