BRUTE FORCE

What could possibly be more brutal than death metal? The answer is pretty obvious: brutal death metal. A particularly aggressive and resolutely uncommercial sub-strain of musical extremity, it’s an enduring subgenre that grew from the seminal efforts of New York legends Suffocation in the early 90s and is currently enjoying greater popularity than ever before, thanks in part to its hottest rising band, Visceral Disgorge.

Formed in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2007 by vocalist Travis Werner and guitarist Eric Vieraitis, Visceral Disgorge may not strike the untrained ear as being particularly different from the frankly mind-boggling number of brutal death metal bands in the underground today. But when the band released their debut album, , in 2011, it had an immediate and telling impact. Despite conforming to most of brutal death metal’s integral tropes – gruesome, wince-inducing lyrics included – (Sample lyric: ) and the charming packed a far weightier punch than most, both in terms of songwriting and production. With one foot in the so-called brutal death metal camp (as pioneered by the likes of Internal Bleeding, Dying Fetus and Skinless), Visceral Disgorge simply sounded bigger, groovier and more brutal than anything else around.