GUTSLIT
GUTSLIT “Carnal”
By Dr. Abner Mality
It’s hard for brutal death metal to keep things interesting across a whole album, but Indian band GUTSLIT have found a way to do it. The dudes slam HARD and in fact this is one of the better ultra-brutal albums I’ve heard in recent times. The songs are structured well, the riffs are potent and vocalist Aditya Barve handles every type of extreme singing known to man.
This has a sound comparable to the best DYING FETUS and CANNIBAL CORPSE. The only thing that kind of annoys is the very processed drum sound of Aaron Pinto, which is very much in the rabid typewriter domain. Otherwise, this sounds thick, clear and ugly. “Son of Sam” is a massive introduction to GUTSLIT’s relentless rain of hammers, but even better is the monstrous “Matriarch”. This one has “cyclone pit” written all over it...a beautifully laid out assault of brutality.
Over the course of the album, Barve does super-deep gutturals, tortured Gollum shrieks, pig squeals and cricket chirps at a high level...very versatile is he. The songs never let up, but do have range...”Insidious” is a brief grinding blast, “Altar of Putridity” thumps along with catchy grooves, “Body Snatcher” has a bit more melody and structure and album ending “Primeval” even throws dissonance into the stew. The result is you don’t get bored with “Carnal” the way that you do with many slam-death albums. GUTSLIT is at the top of their game and these guys could ignite a homicidal pit anywhere in the world.