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FULCI
Duck Face Killings

20 Buck Spin (2024)
Rating: 8/10

The title of the latest death metal offering from Italy’s Fulci is a nod to the legendary horror film director Lucio Fulci and his 1982 slasher flick The New York Ripper. Arguably one of the most anticipated death metal releases of the year, Duck Face Killings is a grisly groove machine that’ll have fans foaming at the mouth with maddening glee.

With the eye-catching cover art to accompany the release, Fulci’s fifth full-length platter of splatter begins with ‘Vile Butchery’. As expected the riffs are fat and vocals chesty and guttural, but beyond the meat and potatoes there are some intriguing smatterings of creativity with this album.

Strange atmospheric synths (‘A Blade In The Dark’) and odd, suspenseful effects (‘Lo Squartatore’) conjure images of Giallo horror alongside sleazy streets, crooked police and a killer on the loose, as all the while Fulci build a barricade of death metal bludgeoning around it. The likes of ‘Duck Face Killings’, ‘Rotten Apple’ and ‘Fucked With A Broken Bottle’ are all orgies of grinding riffs, pummeling rhythms and deep, chesty coughs.

There’s plenty of variety in the construction of the songs on offer. For those who prefer slower, meatier chugging then check out the opening strains of ‘Slashereality’, and then there are the fast barrages, particularly ‘Human Scalp Condition’ which is a standout, but all reasonably standard yet engrossing. However, one of the biggest creative surprises here is ‘Knife’, a rap n’ death metal combo featuring Non Phixion’s Lord Goat. I’m not sure how this will sit with some of the fans, after all it’s a little generic, but still interesting if somewhat out of place. Another example of the band’s flair for the unusual comes via closer ‘II Miele Del Diavolo’, which exists like doom metal but with added trumpet!

There’s certainly some intriguing ingredients sprinkled over this gateau of gore, so I strongly recommend you acquaint yourself with the movies of Lucio Fulci and use this cacophony as your soundtrack.

Neil Arnold

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