Review by Alex on June 8, 2019.

I almost skipped over this due to receiving so much physical media thus being forced to prioritize those higher than digital and wish I had gotten to it earlier, but I’m glad it did not get lost in the piles of intangible music.  Mutilate is comprised of high skilled musicians, it’s evident with every note played. Back to front Contagium is a complete record of sound compositions on an exotic cloudy production that gives the listener impressions suggesting Mutilate recorded this material just where the cover art depicts. Contagium has to be one of the best death metal albums released in 2019. There's been a-lot thus far but Contagium cackles at the feeble efforts of many. Every song is a blast of thrashing death metal fury filled with scourging guitar leads, dynamic drumming and cadaverous vocals. In addition, Mutilate has a sound they can call theirs thanks to the production heard on the record; it brings to mind the mid-80s style of thrash metal records with a low but audible bass and a heavy emphasis on lead guitars. I have heard their 2018 output Tormentium, which I thought was a good debut full- length record but, Contagium is way better, in every way. The production is still raw sounding (something I liked about Tormentium), but the song writing has taken a turn towards improved structuring, transitions and thrashing guitar leads that grab your attention on every entry making Mutilate’s second record a case of pulsing adrenaline and a more serious force within the underground. This is a must have for 2019. 

From the tramping drumming of “Vile and Disgusting”, the ear-gasmic licks and vocal antics of “Quartered”, to impulsive energetic sonic-storms of “Black Faith”, “Falling into Darkness”, “Decapitator” and “Skeletal Haunting”, you rarely find reason to complain unless you're burnt-out or just don’t appreciate this kind of material. I mean it's been done in the past, but to hear it replicated in the modern era to this much effect tells me the genre is in a healthy state (at least where the underground is concerned). Apart from being so deeply rooted in fiery thrash /death metal, Contagium reserves some space for doom metal sections that can be heard on tracks “Eyes of a Child” and “Falling into Darkness” with the latter having some of the stand-out lead guitar work. Even a punk metal aura is created on “Black Fate” which is again another track worth mentioning due to the guitar leads. The licks on Contagium are something-else, with every transition you’re presented with a string of notes or vocal piece that pulls you in every-time. Not excluding the drumming, showing the competency of keeping momentum, but also providing a memorable drum attack that mimics many styles, from doom metal, death metal, thrash metal, punk metal and even “war metal”. 

It's the artwork that caught my attention for Contagium, it holds a mysticism often associated with death metal when it was merely an embryo, and the music supports the picturesque mystique. This isn’t one of those records that only has an eye-catching cover, the music here is as strong and appealing as the artwork. 

Headbang till your nose bleeds.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Tobias on November 30, 2001.

Albums like Evil as Hell are the reason I love doing what I do; I get to discover greatness and blab about it. Prior to hearing this album, I was completely unfamiliar with Ebony Tears, but this album has insta-fan potency so I now feel like I’ve been listening to them since their ’97 debut.

Ok, I’m going to make this easy on you; take the best elements from Pantera and the technical expertise of Meshuggah, you’ll be getting pretty close to what ET offers. The speeding riffs and monster muscle vocals are enough to shatter your teeth. But the intensity really stems from the powerhouse skin-beater, Richard Evensand, as well as bassist Peter Kahm.

Each move that the band makes is more than perfect calculation; it comes closer to the blistering insanity of genius. Each person in this band knows exactly what they’re doing and exactly what every other member is doing. Upon my second listen, much of the music is sounding like a fantastically thrashed out Tool.

There’s so much going on in this album that I get scatterbrained trying to come up with the right things to say about this bloody unreal band. Let me break it down a little so I have some structure rather than just freaking out on you and becoming completely incoherent...

The spine of the band, the percussion and bass, is really fast, but not so just for the sake of being fast. You can distinctly pick out exactly why each beat and each note is struck. To imagine the music without it as is, you would realize that suddenly the band wouldn’t be quite so tight and certainly wouldn’t provide such a crushingly huge sound.

Conny Jonsson’s six-string thrashing is far more than being competent, the riffing is wildly imaginative and diverse. Screw Nuge, this is the dude that can blow the balls off a charging rhino. He can take you from a ground-ripping speed riff right into a cleverly metalized rock riff with such deft skill you’ll be treated for whiplash before you can blink.

There are few vocalists that I will recognize as being utterly critical to the potency in a band. On that short list are names like Anselmo (Pantera), Keenan (Tool), and Fallon (Clutch). But, as you might’ve guessed, that list grew one name longer with Johnny Wranning. This guy is immense and all muscle with some of the brightest and smartest intensity I’ve heard in any metal band.

I’m going to stop here, because there’s just so much more to say you should go and get the album to discover it all for yourself.

Bottom Line: All holy hell has broken loose and you will want to witness it over and over and over and…

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 10
Originality: 9
Overall: 10

Rating: 9.8 of 10