Review by Nekrist on June 2, 2024.

As many already know, Lord Mantis is my favorite extreme metal band of all time, they have been the only ones capable of combining all the elements that capture me in extreme music in a millimetric and precise way, captivating me among their apocalyptic and disturbing sound.

Although for me their album Pervertor (to which I already dedicated a passionate review) is the highest point of the darkest and most sinister metal, the album titled Death Mask has been the only one that has come close enough to the greatness of the aforementioned album, I thought they would never be able to match or even replicate such a feast of depravity and madness, and boy was I wrong. In Death Mask Lord Mantis reinvents themselves, achieving a spectacular results, perfecting a little more what they had done in their previous work.

The album begins with a bit “à la” Hellhammer riff that reminded me of the old glories of extreme metal, but soon that feeling of “being at home” fades and we plunge into a swamp full of boiling wax. The music of disfigures until it reaches its dark and sinister “blackened sludge metal”. The band once again uses the resource of using voice samplers to create caustic, ghostly and electronic atmospheres, providing an “industrialoid” touch to the album, enriching the sonic wall that we are listening. Here we see a much more pessimistic, perverse, gloomy side and even a melancholic and even depressive side that caught me off guard in a song like 'Three Crosses', which drains the soul and withers everything around it, a devastating song.

The composition and musicality left me completely astonished. The guitar riffs can be very technical and at other times extremely rhythmic and groovies, the vocal and lyrical delivery are simply impressive. The way Charlie Fell, Andrew Markuszewski, but especially Dylan O'Toole puts rhythm to his incredibly gnarly voice, it is spectacular, spitting out all that hatred and gutturality, my favorite extreme metal vocalist without a doubt. The lyrics are twisted and disturbing, they never leave aside their sexual perversions. Mr. Bill Bumgardner's (R.I.P) drums pulverizes us, causing the atmosphere to become a hydraulic press that disintegrates us.

It is a solid record that reaffirms that Lord Mantis were a unique and unrepeatable band. They already recorded their name in the history of metal with letters of gold, always being consistent and faithful to the demonic channelings that they transformed into extreme music. Another resounding 10 Lord Mantis.

Rating: 10 out of 10