Review by Carl on May 10, 2026.

In the second half of the 90's, I heard the name Mastic Scum quite often, and because I hadn't heard any music by them at that point, I always had the assumption that they were a grindcore band in the vein of Agathocles. After I bought this EP from a hardcore/crust distro having a clearance sale, I finally got to hear the band, and I was pretty disappointed that this wasn't grindcore at all. Turned out that on "Ephemeral Cerebral Butchery", Mastic Scum played full-on underground death metal, and being the greasy noisenik I was, that stuff was way too musical for this guy. Which was very ignorant of me, because this stuff actually rips.

After a pretty redundant intro that goes on for too long, 'borrowed' off the soundtrack to "Bram Stoker's Dracula" by the way, Mastic Scum spews forth a brand of dense death metal steeped in a murky yet fitting sound mix, with the band combining slower stomp with primitive blastbeat propelled moments of velocity. Because of the low grunts and sickly guitar riffs, I am regularly reminded of old Finnish death metal bands such as Funebre and Purtenance, with bands like Imprecation, Rottrevore, and Infester coming to mind as well, with Mastic Scum sounding equally as obscure as the acts mentioned above. With the overall grainy production being what it is on this EP, there are some moments where the music tends to get a tad messy and chaotic, with the drums drowning in the guitars somewhat in the more uptempo parts, creating a slightly confusing sonic mush. It's nothing all that disastrous, though; the guitar work is solid and transparent enough not to lose track completely here. After all, it's the imperfections that make this type of early 90's underground death metal so endearing. Well, to me it does, at least.

Despite the fact that the production leaves something to be desired, I dig this. As with a lot of these death metal releases from days gone by, enthusiasm and passion clearly win over things such as technical prowess and productional shine, and that's where stuff like this grabs me. I'll admit that Mastic Scum does sound somewhat anonymous or even faceless on this EP. There were a lot of similar-sounding bands around back then, but that doesn't abate my enjoyment of "Ephemeral Cerebral Butchery" one bit. To put it in a few words: I'm glad I gave this record a second chance. Later on, Mastic Scum indeed skirted a lot closer to grindcore, as well as adding elements of thrash and crust to the mix, creating a more focused form of what they were doing. From what I heard of their later output, it sounded sharper and more on point than the rumbling underground death metal on their first EP, yet without the youthful charm that is so firmly present on their earliest material.

If the recent wave of downtuned death/doom bands has your interest, I'd say to give Mastic Scum's first EP a chance, too. It may not be the most original or essential release out there, but it's certainly worth the effort of checking out at least once.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Carl on May 10, 2026.

These dudes must be the nicest guys around, because who else would've been so gracious to summarize everything great about a decade of 90's death metal, and put it out on an album for all to hear?

The awesomely monikered Disfigured Dead deals in a form of death metal that sounds as familiar as it is enjoyable. The band combines mid-tempo stomping heaviness with frenzied savagery in a way that sounds very similar to what Cannibal Corpse did in their final years with Chris Barnes and on those first few albums featuring the Corpsegrinder. That resemblance to the Cannibal ones is also noticeable in both the adequate riffing as well as in the rough, low growling and menacing shrieks that are being employed here. The guitar work is of high standard throughout, going from the already mentioned Cannibal Corpse-like rumblings, all the way to a confident, more intricate Morbid Angel style of playing, with some ripping leads evidencing this. The use of downtuned technical riffing and pinch harmonics brings Disfigured Dead's very 90's style of death metal closer to the end of that particular decade, making me think of more brutal acts like Skinless, Rotting, Waco Jesus, and Regurgitation more than once. Even the atmosphere of the first couple of Nile albums is referenced in the haunting tremelo riffing in tracks like "Deranged Consecration" and "Baneful Barbarity", providing even more variation to what is a pretty banging collection of 90's death metal-isms already. It's probably needless to point out that the execution is on point for the whole duration of the album, with an extra mention for drummer Kyle, handing in a stellar pounding performance throughout. Soundwise, it may not be the most original take on death metal that Disfigured Dead has on offer here, but this is absolutely solid stuff nonetheless.

With the music already being a pretty ripping affair, there's, of course, a fitting production needed, and luckily, that's also been taken care of in an agreeable manner. Personally, I think the sound mix is a tad too slick and could've needed just that bit more grit to it, but honestly, it isn't all that dramatic. There's thankfully been a lot of life kept in the way this album sounds, with all the instrumentation being well balanced out, and the excellent riffing taking a well-deserved centre place, making sure enough power and clarity come roaring out of the speakers to leave a more than convincing impression.

Although I get a damn hard kick out of this album, I don't necessarily agree with everything presented here. I could've done without the audio samples, something I find to be pretty redundant on most releases, and the already mentioned overall sound being just that bit too nice in my opinion. These are, of course, personal gripes, and when seen in the big picture, they aren't even all that worth mentioning, probably. "Relentless" offers up copious amounts of nostalgia, filtered through a respectful contemporary lens, while being presented in a thoroughly professional manner throughout. As it should be!

This is an album for those whose taste in death metal never developed further than the period between 1992 and 2000. I have no doubts that these folks will find a lot to be enthused about in this album, and its predecessor "Visions of Death" as well, so if you are one of those people who just can't put down those old Sinister, Monstrosity, Immolation, and Suffocation albums, this one's something you surely shouldn't pass on.

Rating: 8 out of 10