The season is off to a good start for Corpse Hunters.
Featuring R.D.N.C.K-34 (Catacomb), Lichtträgere (Nox Irae), Ripper (Apogée), Naytan (Apogée), and Slicer, the band has signed with Adipocère Records for the release of their debut album, Dismemberment Squad.
The album opens with D-34, a rather unsettling intro track that plunges us into an apocalyptic atmosphere worthy of John Carpenter’s films, before finally launching into the opening riffs of No More Laws, quickly establishing the band’s sound as gritty, old-school, yet highly catchy Death Metal. While the foundation and the screams remain solid and fairly consistent, there are piercing harmonics here and there that heighten the sense of oppression, as does the sample leading into Pyre of the Cursed and its energetic rhythm section, which picks up on elements from the previous track while adding haunting melodies to its lead guitar, countering the crackling in the background. A new sample introduces Ordo Novi Orbis Disruptus, a track leaning more toward Brutal Death but one that knows how to soften with a macabre solo before returning to its cruising pace to lead into The Thing in the Glass and its uncompromising raw power that’s sure to make us bang our heads. Next up is Infinite Zombicide, with its influences drawn from the American scene, making the composition a truly powerful, high-energy track with sharp bursts of intensity; once again, it takes advantage of a brief lull to slip in a solo, then Carnal Delirium returns to impose its almost playful rhythm, immediately getting the machine rolling again. The band uses The End of Flesh to offer slightly more modern and imposing tones, then returns to abrasive sounds with Stop You Dead, once again letting a few melodies linger in the quieter passages. You can almost detect a touch of Swedish Death Metal on this track, both in the blood-soaked riffs and in certain growls, and then, with a few hints of Thrash, With Bones and Ashes brings the album to a close, not without delivering one last well-deserved blow thanks to a fairly sustained rhythm.
Although Dismemberment Squad is only Corpse Hunters’ debut, the musicians all bring solid experience to the table, turning the album into a veritable pile of bloody flesh ready to strike at any moment. Fans of the genre will be delighted.
80/100