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PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT
From Crotch To Crown

Willowtip (2014)
Rating: 7.5/10

With its perverse album cover which shows a naked and butchered woman strapped to a filthy table, Dutch deathsters Prostitute Disfigurement introduce us to their new slab of horror.

From Crotch To Crown is the fifth studio album of sickness from the quintet, who has been churning out this sort of brutality since 2000. It’s been six years since fourth record (Descendants Of Depravity) because after releasing it, the band split.

Fans of this sort of extreme metal will know what to expect once the riffs of ‘Only Taste For Decay’ coming spewing from the speakers like pus from an infected wound. As you may have guessed by the moniker of the band, this is no expression of subtlety, as the crazy combo unleash ten flesh-gouging tracks with wondrous titles such as ‘Reduced To Stumps’, ‘Crowned In Entrails’ and that old poppy chestnut ‘Dismember The Transgender’!

This is vicious death metal that loves to tell tales of bodily dismemberment, rape and all other acts of depravity in-between. The words of grime emerge from the crusted lips of Niels Adams who, alongside bassist Patrick Oosterveen, has been committing acts of repulsion since 2000. Interestingly, both musicians featured for Abhorrence. After forming Prostitute Disfigurement, the pair were joined in 2005 by drummer Michiel van der Plicht. Guitarists Martijn Moes and Mike Ferguson are relative newcomers to the band, with Moes joining in 2012 and Ferguson being enlisted in 2013.

So, what can I tell you about From Crotch To Crown? Well, while it’s not as good as the band’s Embalmed Madness debut (2001) or its follow-up Deeds Of Derangement (2003), in fact, it is still a volatile opus which blends complexity and brutality, the result being an experience best described as similar to the likes of Cannibal Corpse. I guess any band that is going to feature guttural, gore-soaked vocals, churning riffs, hyper drums and sick lyrics is going to be compared to Cannibal Corpse and the likes anyway, but that’s not always a bad thing. ‘Only Taste For Decay’ is a fast, aggressive death metal belch which features catchy segments and technical arrangements with hints of Morbid Angel too.

While violent in nature, From Crotch To Crown is an accessible record showcasing some excellent solo work which threads wonderfully inside those punishing rhythms and the pummelling percussion. Fans into stuff like Deeds Of Flesh will enjoy this album too, particularly with the likes of ‘Battered To The Grave’ and its speedy nature, but where Prostitute Disfigurement seem to differ from so many gore-obsessed death metal bands is that they have a very serious edge to their brutality. Rarely do the band offer tongue-in-cheek humour. Instead, Adams sounds convincing as he spouts out those vile lyrics. One example is “I watched her eyes drop to my shaft of steel, Buried in her belly above the pubic triangle, She looked at my hands as I pulled the blade up, She saw her entrails slid out of her belly” from ‘Battered To The Grave’, which becomes the musical equivalent to watching an extreme horror movie.

With tracks such as the aforementioned ‘Dismember The Transgender’ and the repulsive groans of ‘Under the Patio’ and ‘Glorify Through Cyanide’, this bunch of psychopaths have once again beheaded us in their quest for depravity.

While it could be argued that album number five is more of the same, the excellent production must be noted, and the fact that these guys clearly don’t give a damn for trends of overt diversity. Instead, they exist to batter, rip, tear, slash, stabbed and disfigure us until we’re reduced to a pile of blubbering blubber on the floor. More than masters of their trade, the band have given birth to another hideous monster, but be warned of its ferocity and murderous intent. While these guys have yet to record their ultimate expression of deviancy, From Crotch To Crown acts as another reminder that Prostitute Disfigurement aren’t here to mess around and – by the sounds of it – are glad to be back spitting blood and bone.

Neil Arnold

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