Prostitute Disfigurement - Descendants of Depravity
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I won’t make apologies for Prostitute Disfigurement. Their name is horrible – perhaps it’s good in a metal way – and their oeuvre includes such works as “On Her Guts I Cum” and “Rotting Away Is Better Than Being Gay.” However, they seem to have grown up a little on Descendants of Depravity (Neurotic/Willowtip, 2008). Their topics are still perversions and violence of all kinds, but their songs are mostly from the perspective of fictional characters: “I’m called the one-eyed drifter / A cross-country odyssey of crime / Advocate of different methods / My cruelty seems to know no bounds.” Lyrically, this is basically an entire album of Slayer’s “Dead Skin Mask.”
Storm of the FiendCarnal Rapture
So, these Dutchmen are probably not psychopaths, except on their instruments. This record is ripping. Guitars spray tasty, choppy riffs all over the place, with wicked left-right trade-offs. String rakes! Sweep picking! Two-handed tapping! In just the right amounts! Drummer Michiel van der Plicht is an absolute monster, throwing down insane fills and varied beats. The production is perfect – crisp, crunchy, separated. The stereo interplay of drums and guitars on “Storm of the Fiend” is breathtaking. At 1:52, a blazing lead erupts from the left side. A few seconds later, the right side responds – and then they join in a more perfect union. Sooo good.
Vocalist Niels Adams is suitably beastly, but I’m more interested in his typo-riddled lyrics (bands and labels: I am available for liner notes work and English language editing), which occasionally yield gems like, “In a comfortable seat in which I die / With a grin on my face I’m ready to fry.” (Contrast with Metallica’s “Ride the Lightning.”) Plus, PD get bonus points for the only metal song title ever with the word “generalissimo” in it: “The Sadist King and the Generalissimo of Pain.” (I’d love to hear the death growl annunciation of this live.) If you must play death metal now (and that’s a big if), you’re best off doing it the Dutch way. Two hacked-off thumbs way, way up.
John Darnielle has a considerably funnier blog post about Prostitute Disfigurement here.
