Review by JD on January 9, 2014.

Black Metal. Even the genre name is unnerving, full of evil sounds and darkened goodness. It is also a very intensively unyielding type of metal, one that has specificity on how it exactly done that seems to be bordering on being heavy on OCD.

Hailing from France, comes Rotten Liver and act that does Black Metal tinged with almost a Punk‘n’Roll sort of feel to it. This band is not fancy playing, it is not technical and seem very unpolished and raw. What you get is simplified, uncomplicated music that is heavy as fuck.

There is not much variety going on with this four song EP, even though their greatest strength is they mix NWOBHM, ballsy Thrash and add in a huge amount of older school Nordic Black Metal. The whole EP seems to be all muddled together without a real direction. It does seem that they try to give a little twist with each song as the EP plays, but sadly they do not succeed completely despite showing a great deal of promise.

I can hear that Rotten Liver can do better, because of little cues that are hidden in each song but those things never translate into something better. Their EP is not bad, but needs work. I say if this band continues in this direction, and has some creative growth to go along with it, Rotten Liver could become a force to be heard in the next few years. I love the way they are coming to their music, the trick is to pull it all together.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 5
Production: 7.5
Originality: 8
Overall: 8

Rating: 7.3 out of 10