MUTAGENIC HOST
The Diseased Machine DRY COUGH
UK death squad unleash their foul first statement
This is a golden age for fans of British death metal. Mutagenic Host are the latest homegrown band to make the transition from thrillingly grubby demos to full-length albums, and the results are explosive and gruesome in equal measure. The Diseased Machine showcases the Londoners’ militantly filthy sound, but it’s the quality of their songwriting that elevates this above the nasty norm. Songs like Neurological Necrosis and Genestealer brim with riffs that would have destroyed all-comers 30 years ago, but rather than deal exclusively in old-school tropes, Mutagenic Host weave contemporary dissonance and discord into their bloody tapestry. Deliciously twisted, The Twisted Helix and Incomprehensible Methods Of Slaughter strike the perfect balance between underground filth and big-bollocked metal bravado, while the closing Rivers Of Grief is a truly unsettling, slow-motion trudge into despairing oblivion. Death lives! ■■■■■■■■■■