Rex Shachath – Sepulchral Torment
With an overall aura in the guitar sound and playing that gives a nod of appreciation to Blessed are the Sick/Covenant era Morbid Angel, Ireland’s Rex Shachath are cultivating ancient death metal soil with a fertile thrash essence.
If the production wasn’t so full/smooth, I would say that this is one of those lost releases that surfaced on a small label back in ’92 and slipped through the cracks. The blasting isn’t of the turbo, full throttled variety which really allows the riffs to take shape in their aggression and simplicity to unveil a memorable quality for these songs to take shape and actually stick. The vocalist embraces a dark mid to deep register growling style that thankfully forsakes traditionally brutal gutturalizations and keeps it dank with an evil rasp. His performance fits well within the open scope of Rex Shachath’s formula. The foundation is indeed deathly, but the motion in the riffs and the bands affinity for the “thrash beat” will inspire the crowd to mosh, though RS never allow their breakdowns to degenerate into silly cliches.
Rex Shachath is a very authentic sounding new band that indeed worships the late 80’s early 90’s and have saluted it with class on this enjoyable 6 song EP. I wouldn’t scour the Earth looking for this one, but it will indeed appeal to fans that feel most at home living in the past. -Marty
Grindhouse Music / Metal Music Austria
Worm Gear 