Review by Elijah on June 13, 2020.

Cenotaph, one of the greatest units of brutal death metal hailing from the country of Turkey. Definitely the greatest death metal band from there. Their debut album Voluptuously Minced starts a direction in their future discography of albums.

Voluptuously Minced is most definitely an old school brutal death metal album. Not similar to other osdbm bands at the time such as Pyaemia, Disgorge, Mortal Decay, Dehumanized, or Malignancy, but still an old school bdm album; just with its own style, probably because it's from Turkey that it doesn't sound similar to the other arising osbdm acts at the time. The production isn't exactly amazing, it has that old school - unperfect sound that'll hit you immediately as soon has you hear it. The drumming is good, but at the same time it's slightly loud in the mix and doesn't exactly have a proper foundation. The kick drum can be pretty buried by the snare too a lot of the time. The guitars sound great but also grainy at the same time. Similar to the production, the guitars aren't 100% amazing, but in the end it works and is good. The riffs are pretty awesome, the best song being the opener 'Less Than Human Urinal', nice title too by the way, love it. The sound quality in everything may not be perfect, but the riffs, songwriting, and playing ability make up for those aspects instantly. The album as a whole is generally pretty fucking good and the issues aren't really even that much of an issue once you get used to the album.

On the other hand, the bass is absolutely flawless. It has a clear sound that's present and 100% hearable. The most notable bass part in the entire album is the beginning of 'Different Dimensional Pervertation'. The bass and the bass playing are perfect. The riffs are fun and bouncy, especially on tracks like 'Revenge', starts off slow and menacing, but then comes an awesome fun riff that'll get your head banging. 'Revenge' and 'Less Than Human Urinal' are most definitely the best songs on the album.

Although this album being my least favorite in Cenotaph's discography, it's still great and I appreciate it just as much as I do their other albums. Flawed in some respects, but overall a great effort. It has brutality, fun riffs, old school vibes, and wet brutal vocals. Voluptuously Minced is an awesome little album that features 22 minutes of Turkish brutality. Doesn't define the band's future work AT ALL (since all the albums following this one is very different), but a good start nonetheless.

Best Songs:
'Less Than Human Urinal'
'Revenge'

Rating: 9 out of 10

Review by Maciek on February 12, 2013.

First of all listening to this album it's hard to believe that it's this band's debut album. The production is astonishingly clear and technical level of this album is amazing. Hard to describe clearly the genre, it's definitely Death Metal, but it's a great mixture of melodic branch with a lot of Technical Death Metal with even some bits of Metalcore and many other metal subgenres, originating from US as well an in Europe.

The album is a very exciting journey through all that is good in Death Metal - from furious blast beats with complicated riffs, through many slow-downs, acoustic passages and masterfully executed solos to mid-tempo parts getting close to Thrash Metal, with even few very Heavy Metal-sounding riffs. The longer I listen to this album, the more catchy it is. Yes, this is one of those albums which you have to listen to few times to discover all the flavours and shades. I think this is also one of albums which are best listened from the beginning to the end in one go. I find it really hard to choose just one favourite track, because to me it works out best as a whole, especially that it's recorded with nearly no silence between tracks. The changes in pace make it really engaging and the vocals are really powerful here. I guess there is some effect applied to make the vocals sound lower at few points, but there are also quite few moments where you can hear growling and shrieks without any effects. The lyrical subjects circle mostly around war with few relations to ancient cults which works perfectly with the musical background.

It is hard for me to compare it to any other bands, because there would be too many to list. The whole album is very well produced, the musicianship is at the very high level and it will surely leave you wanting more. Nowadays it is hard to find an album, where drums work so well with rhythms played by guitars. It's one of the best debut albums I've ever heard, that's for sure.

If you're lucky enough to attend any of Master's show in your area, pay close attention to Fisthammer, who are supporting them on their tour in US. There will be definitely many occasions for heavy headbanging, especially during 'Kull The Conquerer' or 'Doom of the Gods'.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 10
Atmosphere: 8
Originality: 8
Production: 10
Overall: 9

Rating: 9 out of 10