Album Review: DeathCollector – Death’s Toll (Prosthetic Records)

British/Irish death metal group DeathCollector, featuring members of Bolt Thrower, Memoriam, Ashen Crown, Zealot Cult and more, will release their debut album, Death’s Toll, on June 23rd via Prosthetic Records.

Do you fancy something nasty, something guttural, and something of a fusion of old-school and modern death metal? If so, DeathCollector have exactly what you need. Death’s Toll isn’t going to change the world, but that hardly matters when it’s a wicked slab of chunky and horrible heaviness.

Coming out of hell to claim your soul with the title track, the animated rhythm and punchy groove is extremely appealing. Alongside some deep and grim sounding vocals, it’s a hefty hit to sate the appetite for heavy noise. Though, the group take things to a darker and faster place afterwards with the brutal sounding Mental Hedonist. Before smashing the ever-loving crap out of everyone with the varied tempo of the self-titled track. This is the stuff you can head-bang yourself into a stupor too.

So far, so very strong from DeathCollector. Yet, they really start to hit their stride from this point on. First with Coarse Visions. A track that is deliciously old-school and liable to case spontaneous outbreaks of circle pits. Then with the meaty and callous sound of Terrorizer, the frenzy of riffs and drums that makes A Taste of Ichor so eye-watering, and the crawling, squirming, squelching horror of Internal Expansion. The vocals are sounding particularly horrific in the latter.

It’s not for everyone. That much is clear at this stage. However, it should also be noted that you’ll have to have a real hatred of death metal to not find yourself enjoying this album. Even more so because it’s not overblown or overly long. It coming to an end with just two more tracks; Revel in the Gore and Review Guilt. The former, like the title suggests, is undiluted death metal viciousness. Whereas the latter is a bit more nuanced when it comes to instrumental flair, while also being an uncompromising assault of heaviness.

DeathCollector – Death’s Toll Track Listing:

1. Death’s Toll
2. Mental Hedonist
3. DeathCollector
4. Coarse Visions
5. Terrorizer
6. A Taste of Ichor
7. Internal Expansion
8. Revel in the Gore
9. Review Guilt

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