Volturyon
Coordinated Mutilation
7.7
If you are on the fence about entering the current United Guttural Records giveaway, might I give you a prod in the right direction?
While United Guttural is most known for its bands with scrawly and unreadable logos, monikers like Bound and Gagged, Corpsefucking Art, Dyscrasia and Sickening Art, and well….more guttural-sounding bands, the label's recently released debut from Sweden’s Volturyon is a pleasant change and a damn fine record. Straddling the line between cleaner technical US death metal like Cannibal Corpse and intense thrash metal (think Dew-Scented), and with a burly European backbone, Volturyon isn’t going to change death metal. But they are going kick it in the nuts with their second album.
I’m reminded of Torture Division, and more succinctly, the late-2010 release by France’s Offending, in that Coordinated Mutilation melds a nice mix of various geographical death metal elements, throws in a powerful but natural vocalist, and plays the material with a virulent intensity and skill without trying to force complexity or overly guttural heaviness down your throat. Throw into the tangle the Dew-Scented-on-steroids moments (“Savage Gluttony” in particular) that give the songwriting a neck-snapping catchiness here and there, and you’ve got the recipe for just a damn solid modern death metal album.
You have to give Volturyon (whatever the heck that is) some credit for not jumping on the Stockholm-revival bandwagon or recycling Gothenburg riffs, but rather forging their own pristine, American-based sound with added European nuances instead. At a perfectly paced 35 minutes, the album’s 10 tracks slice, dice and chug with violent vitriol and keep the listener engaged throughout. The band can deliver anything from fierce blast beats (“Eight Corners of Slaughter”, “Saguinolency”) to sternly deathed-up thrash (“Blood-soaked Solution”, “Savage Gluttony”, “Ravaged”) to some satisfying old school death metal grooves (“Euphoria Through Execution”, “Coordinated Mutilation”, “Sadistic Molestation”, “Intense Convulsions”). And as you can see, they stick rigidly to tried and true death metal themes -- no existential or introspective bullshit here.
And that "no bullshit" clause seems to be appropriate for Coordinated Mutilation, as there’s not one iota of trying to fit into any genre or scene or trying to satisfy any particular fanbase as Volturyon are content to vehemently and competently play shit they seem to enjoy and are good at, without a care of what critics, fans or labels think. Good for them. As much as I enjoy recent challenging, genre-bending music by the likes of Obscura, Anomalous, Ana Kefr and such, sometimes I just want to not think or overanalyze a CD and just get my face ripped off. If you feel the same, get this CD.
