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R.I.P.
Still Resting EP

Life After Death (2022)
Rating: 8.5/10

Back with their second head-ripping EP is brutal death metal combo R.I.P. This bunch from Cologne in Germany (one of many using the moniker over the years) attempts to stand out from the crowd by brandishing a vocal sneer and pulverising sound that takes the likes of Obituary, Pestilence, Morgoth and Asphyx to new levels of extremity.

This is some seriously heavy, yet wonderfully accessible death metal beginning with the dehydrated drools of ‘Toxic Amputation’ whereby vocalist Stinne reaches and scowls to the point of vomiting his lungs all over the rumbling instrumentation behind him.

The music, for the most part, is a black, hideous wave of chunky riffage, a bass which shatters skulls and a drummer whose sticks snap like bones. There’s pace but with segments of fleshy grinding, whereas ‘Morbid Possessed’ begins with thrashing rage before steeping to melodious eye-gouging. Either way it’s putrid yet foaming death metal that shifts between old school aesthetics that hint at those already mentioned bands while providing extra demonic edge.

Hats off to percussive grinder Björn for unleashing hell on those skins, which results in the band becoming a truly punishing force with those slightly slower mechanics. But as ‘Black Coffin’ gnashes to another grating riff and a sombre lead infiltrates the gloominess, I’m left in awe by the monolithic structures this band builds. It’s not overtly technical by design and Stinne’s vocals reach truly maddening slurps of gory glee within the framework of belligerence.

Closer ‘Eaten Alive’ chugs ominously, where the bass of Jolle is infectious and fusty and the mechanised churning of the whole scenario is like a combine harvester chewing up strewn carcasses and leaving a trail of congealed blood n’ guts. There’s a Swedish influence in some of the fleshier, frothing passages, while the Obituary influence again comes to the fore with another babbling section fuelled by a morose lead and slow gloomy division.

Utterly infectious, grimly maniacal, and devastatingly heavy and crushing, R.I.P. need to get a full-length out as soon as possible because teasing us with two EP’s since 2020 just isn’t fair. Now, get back to the shadows of Cologne and record that damn album for us to chew on.

Neil Arnold

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