Mutilated by Zombies Ratchets Up the Death (Metal) Toll: "Headcount Rising" (Early Track Stream)
I try not to be too influenced by band names and avoid making assumptions about what a band sounds like, but even so Mutilated by Zombies still caught me off guard. Their upcoming album Scenes from the Afterlife isn't devoid of the blood, guts, and sheer aggression I subconsciously expected, but it comes with a lot more in store that not only feels atypical for their aesthetic, but more broadly is an unusual approach in modern death metal. The Iowa trio practices technical, high-energy death metal injected with whirling melodies and a near-impossible number of starts, stops, and stunning transitions. Switching tempos, feel, and generally recklessly avoiding complacency at all costs, Scenes from the Afterlife dabbles in rhythmic trickery delightfully frequently, and they do so while also delivering up-front, violent metal with no shortage of groove. It's a concoction custom-built for death metal fans looking for a serious case of whiplash and too many riffs to reckon with. We're streaming the opening track below -- check out the mayhem for yourself.
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The band comments:
"Headcount Rising" digs deep into the mind and plants a seed of horrors to come...a glimpse into evil itself, the many forms it takes, and the numerous ways it can consume you. Musically, I would absolutely say we wanted to push our abilities. We have a little bit of everything in that song: fast technical stuff, slower groovy stuff; it's extremely difficult to play.
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Scenes from the Afterlife releases March 8th via Redefining Darkness Records.
