I should’ve asked Ixione to review Putred‘s Megalit al Putrefacției, since my Romanian is next to non-existent. Either way, you don’t listen to rancid, heinous Death Metal for the lyrics, right? What? You do? Please, go get some help if that’s the case. But I digress. We have our first “new” Old School Death Metal album of the year, and though my expectations are realistic, I’m more than ready to get destroyed by some nasty riffs from the land of horror.
Rarely have I encountered a band with a more fitting name—I mean, this thing sounds rotten, moldy, and crusty, like your eyes when you don’t wash your face for a few days (so, the normal state of your eyes if you’re an elitist). Fine, I can come up with a nicer metaphor: Megalit is meat-and-potatoes Death Metal, but with a production that’s properly nasty. How can I put it? It’s not purposely low-budget; it is low-budget. And yet, it sounds enjoyable, as long as you’re not looking for huge emotional depth. Megalit is just darkness and anger.
Is this album loud? Yes. But is it pleasant? Hard to tell. What I can say is that the vocals sound like someone who’s overdone their steroid cycle. They’re deep, savage, and surprisingly easy to follow (if I spoke Romanian—but I do catch a few words). That makes no sense! This range of vocals is usually impossible to decipher! The rest of the album is well-executed Death Metal that feels like a humbler version of Tomb Mold. However, as with every retro-inspired album, I have my usual comments.
We can clearly see who the extrovert in the band is!
Megalit is a black flag—it has one mode, and it bashes you into oblivion with it. Sure, there are some moments of melody here and there, but they’re all in service of sonic damage. Don’t expect anything revolutionary in that aspect; you’ve heard this before—maybe not this crunchy, but you’ve felt its wrath if you’ve been in the mud long enough. So, if you’re a hardcore fan of this sound, Putred is an interesting curiosity, but I wouldn’t call it an ambassador album.
I have mixed feelings about this album because I’m obsessed with bands doing things in new or unexpected ways, but I’m okay enjoying something safe sometimes. I believe Megalit fits that description. It’s a relentless battery from Transylvania that has a strange, haunting vibe I can’t easily describe. Hopefully, you’re ready for this kind of horror! (And I hope you caught the secret pun here—hehe.)
Label: Memento Mori
Release date: January 20, 2025
Website: https://www.facebook.com/metalputredalmortii
Country: Romania
Score: rolling in the filth, or 3.0/5.0!
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