VOMITOR - Pestilent Death (CD)

True to its title, Pestilent Death is swarming and virulent, boundless and final. Characteristically, the Aussie hooligans kick into high gear immediately here, and there's no relenting to their iron-fisted fury. Ancient spells from underground metal's rich past are corralled and then contorted to Vomitor's diabolical design, resulting in a trademark sound that's all their own. Blood-red and raw yet somehow refined, the bolstered four-piece lineup of The Escalation (which saw Portal's Horror Illogium joining their ranks) continues their dominance across seven stout tracks in an incendiary 32 minutes. Each one's a literal tornado of everything that's made Vomitor so endearing and enduring: thermonuclear riffing, dive-bombing solos, vocal vomit, and chaotic crunch, now all rendered in its clearest but most cutting state. Warped minds breed warped music, and Vomitor are more warped than most: Pestilent Death is heavy metal barbarity taken to its most maniacal extreme.