Biopsy – Fractals of Derangement [2015; Transcending Obscurity Distribution]

On this Indian band’s first (and, so far, only) release, they bash out some effectively brutal death metal, with the drums thundering over the hard guitar and deep growls. The five songs lean towards goregrind in their titling, with names like “Hemolytic Crisis” and “Surgical Symmetry” providing more of a hint towards the content than the gurgling vocals explicate. The strongest part of the song-writing is probably the unified staccato rhythm attacks, which the musicians jump into and out of on a dime. Outside of that, it’s fairly stock stuff for the style, though very well-executed.

Archenterum – Exhumed [2013; self-released]

Remastering and repackaging content from the French band’s Nuclear Forces demo, originally released in 2000, this EP doles out death metal with a few rough edges, solid riffs, and impressive drum-work. In the better moments, the band brings the beats and shredding together in hard and focused hammerings, but the chiller side of it uses some slick guitar embellishment to balance out the drops in aggression. Quick and sufficiently brutal, but not especially memorable.

Cult of Lilith – Arkanum [2016; self-released]

On Cult of Lilith’s first (and so far only) release, the Icelandic group provides five tracks of hard-edged death metal, with blackened vocals and fast-moving drums. Some nice use of keyboards on the bridges sticks out as the most creative part of the music (along with a nice shifty riff on “Tomb of Sa’ir”), but otherwise it’s pretty stock stuff. A nice demonstration of technical skill, but outside of that and a sample from Legend, nothing too interesting.