Album Review: House By the Cemetary – The Mortuary Hauntings (Pulverised Records)

Horror aficionados House by the Cemetary are rousing the undead once again with the sophomore album, ‘The Mortuary Hauntings’. Out on May 31st, 2024, via Pulverised Records.

Horror and heavy metal, specifically death metal, go together like cheese and wine, and few bands embody the spirit of cult horror and old-school death metal as well as House by the Cemetary.

Featuring the most prolific artist in death metal, Rogga Johansson, alongside Mike Hrubovcak and Matthias Fiebig, House by the Cemetary is unapologetic in its sound. Pure and putrid death metal, played fast and heavy, and with a thick coating of gore. Be warned, you have to have the stomach for this, but that should be obvious from the start.

There’s nothing ground-breaking about The Mortuary Hauntings, but that isn’t really the point. This group live and breathe the tried and tested formula of brutality. Where the riffs are serrated and saw through flesh, the drums hit like a sledgehammer to the back of the head, and the vocals gurgle like thick blood and mucus going down a drain. All under the glow of a naked bulb swinging in a serial killer’s basement.

It might not sound that enjoyable, unless you’re blood-thirsty, but such is the talent of House by the Cemetary that even the familial sound this album employs has a captivating quality. There’s nothing complicated about it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t packed with emphatic showcases of death metal ruthlessness. The guitar is king here, and that also means there’s a ton of flair when it comes to how Rogga Johansson wields his instrument of destruction. Nine tracks fly by in a blur of ugly, but lovable noise.

Here’s the thing about House by the Cemetary… you already know what this sounds like and if it’s going to be your jam because of how ‘death metal’ it is. The horror aspect, while really giving the album an extra evil edge, doesn’t change the fact that at its core, it’s an album of aggressive heaviness and animalistic speed. If that makes your eyes light up and your mouth start to water, than you’re sold. Enjoy the terror it creates.

House by the Cemetary – The Mortuary Hauntings Track Listing:

1. Cadavers Emerge
2. Beware Of The Woods
3. The Realm Of The Cursed
4. Beyond Oblivion
5. Infested
6. The Book Of Eibon
7. Tortured Severe
8. Opening The Gates of Hell
9. Crypts Of Torment

Links

Bandcamp | Pulverised Records