Here are Foetorem’s first steps.
Following a 2025 demo that earned them a spot on the Everlasting Spew Records roster, the Danish band—comprising Daniel (guitar/vocals, Necrotic Ritual, live for The Tombless), Claus (guitar/vocals, ex-Arsenic Addict), Ric (bass, Necrotic Ritual, ex-The Tombless), and Geistaz (drums, Geistaz’ika) unveil their debut album, Incongruous Forms Of Evergrowing Rot.
A disturbing noise opens Reeks Of Moldy Guts, quickly followed by the first rather mysterious notes, then the crushing sound of riffs combined with the vocalists’ screams and macabre harmonics. Old-school influences and a slow tempo blend perfectly in the hands of the Danes, but a few unexpected accelerations inject energy into the mix before smoothly transitioning into Escalating Rot, which, in contrast, proves to be very brutal from the start. Blast beats, double bass drumming, and putrid riffs take turns making us bang our heads, while offering a few moments of pause to better launch back at full speed, then finally revealing a very ethereal section before igniting once more to transition into Oozing With Pustulent Fluids. Like the previous track, it hits hard from the very first moments and offers simple yet devastating riffs accompanied by dissonant harmonics that amplify the chaotic nature of the song, then we leave the savagery behind for the heavy sweetness of Mors Viaturis – The Death Traveler, the next composition with an atmosphere that is initially much brighter. But the soothing tones are short-lived, and they’re quickly devoured by the massive rhythm section, reappearing from time to time to temper the violence as if to lead us to the festering sample that is Grotesque Decomposition, a sort of final true respite before Rebirth In Morbid Disgust descends upon us and tramples us to its heart’s content. We’ll get a few moments to catch our breath, but the sound returns each time until Tapestries Of Misery takes over with a hellish heaviness that knows exactly how to pile on the pressure, offering even more harrowing touches of dissonance. There’s no mercy either on Decay Of The Flesh, which follows suit, and although the track is fairly rhythmic, it obviously focuses on violence, leaving us at the mercy of its waves of rage or its mercy during the soaring passage, but it’s ultimately with Peeled Face Mask that the band will finish us off, first with coldness and then by mixing in jagged riffs that will once again get the better of our necks.
Foetorem already knows everything there is to know about Doom/Death: the heavy, violent, and putrid side, as well as the sweet, intoxicating melodies. Incongruous Forms Of Evergrowing Rot could have been the tenth album of a band with a well-established identity, so solid is it.
90/100
