AntropomorphiA - Bowel Mutilation - Necromantic Love Songs

Cover painting by Dré Smulders

20 years ago AntropomorphiA from Holland released their first demo Bowel Mutilation and their first full-length Necromantic Love Songs. Now both albums are available on Bandcamp (I suspect due to them getting the vinyl treatment by The Crypt). Melodic yet brutal death metal with originality. Old but not old-school.

Utterly guttural growled vocals, perfectly evil sounding. Not a lot of excessive technicality on display, but this is by no means primitive; The bass and the drums are always doing something interesting. Did I mention bass? These two albums are filled with lots and lost of gorgeous bass playing. The rumbling bass riffs in the doomy Splattered Remains, the beautiful bass lines in the beginning of Crack The Casket, an almost funky bass intro to The Carnal Pit.

I think Necromantic Love Songs is a lost classic in its own right, but if you combine it with Bowel Mutilation it becomes truly awesome. Starting with the fanfare intro of Bowel Mutilation. Skipping the last two tracks (which also appears on Necromantic Love Songs). Continuing with the whole of Necromantic Love Songs. And ending with the simple but effective bass solo A Nekromantik Love Song. This is all I could ever want from Death Metal. Here's a review from The Metal Archives.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]