Pustulated
Haematoma
5.8
Ah, jolly good. Deathgrind with thin production. There’s your review. I suppose I could elaborate, but I think the basic premise has already been illustrated. Pustulated play a fairly heavy, fairly chunky brand of blasting death metal that’s laced with harmonics and other squeals. There are tempo changes galore, guttural vocals, breakdowns, and other things of this sort. Lyrically, the band channels the medical terminology-based gore fascination that has permeated the genre for the last fifteen years or so. At this point in time, there seems to be a degree of enmity between the bands who follow the two divergent blueprints laid out by Carcass and Suffocation, but Pustulated seem to have found a happy medium, mixing Impetigo’s incomprehensible gurgles with, say, Brodequin’s urgent high-speed blasts. While I can’t exactly describe Pustulated as particularly unique, they will appeal to fans of the genre.
I think it is fair to say that Pustulated have virtually no depth to their songwriting. The band plays breakneck death metal with little nuance, subtlety, or incentive for multiple listens. I don’t find this music challenging in any way; is very immediate, and one can easily take in all this record has to offer in one sitting. Like many of the more obscure bands populating the genre, Pustulated write a sort of bubblegum death metal that offers a cheap thrill and is sure to please the omnivorous fan. There is not much else that distinguishes the songwriting apart from a completely random electronic interlude, the purpose of which eludes me.
Musicianship? Neither stunning nor below average. The drummer can certainly play at a fast speed, and the guitarist keeps up in an able fashion. This music is difficult to perform purely due to its rapidity, as technical runs do not grace Haematoma. Solid marks are deserved in this category.
The production is off. Although the raw mixing job reminiscent of early Napalm Death is probably intentional, it is not befitting. Had this album been given a punchier mix with a thicker guitar tone, I would have a far easier time recommending it. As is, only those thoroughly committed to the genre will want to suffer through the sub-par production to get at the music beneath it. Let’s be honest: the scene is so over saturated that there are plenty of albums virtually identical to the one in question which have been given a more appropriate production job: see Serial Butcher or Abysmal Torment for example.
I’m not really sure what to offer as a conclusion. Pustulated play death metal. They probably have good live shows. They write fairly good songs. My constructive criticism is to this band to get better production and write riffs that stand out more. Not a bad effort.
