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PUTRID
Antichrist Above

Godz Ov War Productions (2020)
Rating: 7/10

Combining classic Immortal and Morbid Angel is the latest release from Peruvian onslaught Putrid. The band has been active for a decade now and responsible for numerous EPs and split projects, as well as just one full-length (2016’s The Triumph Of Impurity) before this one.

Antichrist Above doesn’t mess about, and from the off it’s a dastardly mix of ravenous speed and conniving, devilish construction. Putrid’s latest offering could be accused of being predictably blasphemous, ordinary in its fiery aggression, and hatefully middle of the road, but as it rages time and time again through my speakers I’m finding myself buoyed by its scathing, hellish attacks – the band acting like a nifty, fast-paced and sneaky boxer picking off his opponent with a series of flashy yet hurtful jabs to the ribs.

This album, from its opening rush of ‘Warfare In Golgotha’, to the likes of ‘The Corpse Of The Messiah’ and ‘Pig Of Liars’, and the closing menace of ‘Morbid Prayers Of Death’, just seethes with such blasphemous angst. Everything hammers of devilish pace; solos wail with great intense rushes and vast walls of black ice are constructed as the heads of holy figures are paraded through the square now awash with blood.

And it’s the word “awash” that springs to mind as every one of the tracks on offer comes rushing into view. There are great waves of oily blackness speeding uncontrollably as old gods such as Sarcofago spring to mind; Putrid being classically trained when it comes to the dark art of South American black / death trading, and it’s often quite tiring if experienced in the wrong mood.

The band is just unrelenting in its musical quest for power and satanic perversion. Thank the dark lord himself then that the album is rather short at 35-minutes, because any further assaults would surely render one boneless and homeless as this despicable act proceeds to chop, sever, slice and thrash its way through the gates of Hell.

Antichrist Above is an unflinching assault on the senses, leaving the listener numb and lacerated before the final cries of submission ring out and the band walk off, laughing at your sorry state. The Antichrist below would be proud of such a torrential black / death downpour, even if it lacks any sort of variety. But sometimes you’ve just gotta let the hate flow out, and that’s exactly what Putrid has done, creating a sneering holocaust of hellish crossfire.

Neil Arnold

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