Review by Rosh on January 8, 2023.

Imagine an era where the organic compounds of all biomass amounted to now long extinct specimen, only sustainable in the oxygen rich environment of an Earth far removed from the blink of an eye that is man's insignificant history. The diverse encyclopedia of monstrous creatures found in this bizarre world were the product of a more potent, unrefined, even toxic ecosystem, their reptilian flesh and bone a malleable cloth suited to a wide variety of carnivorous or herbivorous purposes. Now imagine hearing the ineffable shrieks and roars of the cold blooded mammoths echoing through the hazy, enshrouding fog of this grueling yet fascinating biosphere, their cries emanating from all directions, whether in the distance or alarmingly close by. That, and then the subsequent evisceration and devourment of every last morsel of meat on your soft, succulent body is the atmosphere evoked by Seattle's Cerebral Rot on their debut album courtesy of 20 Buck Spin, Odious Descent Into Decay.

People, this is what it sounds like when an "old school" death metal band innovates with a tried and true, yet relatively obscure sound to create a uniquely disgusting and wretched soundscape. In particular, Odious Descent derives mainly from the Finnish school of 90's putridity, as well as the more slimy and guttural side of Sweden such as Into the Grave, but layers its abominable caveman riffs with what I can only describe as the butter to the bread, jelly to the peanut butter, maggots to the meathole. If you've listened to this album religiously, you know that what I'm talking about is the squealing lead guitarwork, which generally consists of bends and hammer-ons strung together to evoke the image of pus-filled cysts rupturing and secreting their repugnant fluids. There's other worms slithering through this pile of filth, too. When I say this band has innovated with a tried and true sound, I mean that not only in the sense that they don't sound totally standard for their style but also that they were keen enough to pick up on the niche tendencies of the scenes they're most influenced by. In layman's terms, though, an example of this would be the Carcass-y death/goregrind influence in the nastiness of the vocals, which to this day isn't very commonly incorporated into the "cavernous OSDM revival" bands' sounds, but was actually a pivotal influence to the heralded Finnish death metal scene in the early 90's, as can be heard in early material from Funebre, Abhorrence, Depravity, Xysma, Pakeni, and really most of Finland at the time; the country's pioneers were heavily infatuated with the UK's death/grind sounds. (Thanks to a couple Abhorrence reviews I was reading on this site, my attention was drawn to that phenomenon.)

Standout moments are difficult to name because the entirety of Odious Descent Into Decay really is a "Primordial Soup of Radioactive Sewage", but there are highlights such as the grossly grooving "Swamped in Festering Excrementia" and the borderline grinding madness of the band's namesake track, "Cerebral Rot." Interestingly, though, the best song on the album has to be the closer, "Foul Stench of Ruination." Maybe it's just because this song has come up on random shuffle in my music library eerily often, but something about its riffing portrays the rotten landscape of the album cover most effectively. The acoustic intro to the album's title track is a decent way to start things off as well, but again, it's the lead guitar that really makes the descent feel odious.

Cerebral Rot also benefits a great deal from their guitar sound. The guitar doesn't have the gain turned up all that high, but that actually gives the album a slimier feel, which, counterintuitive as that sounds, makes sense because an overly thick tone might feel too smooth and creamy when what we really want is for the riffs to come out in bloody, putrescent chunks. This way, the tone "oozes" more than coming down like a cement block as it would with Left Hand Path's tone. Nonetheless, the guitar sound is bottom-heavy and blends well with the bass, with the drumming adding that skeletal feel to the meaty riffs, redolent of Chris Reifert's drumming on Mental Funeral.

Odious Descent Into Decay is one of 20 Buck Spin's finest releases yet and certainly made my favorite albums list from 2019, even topping the other fine guttural exports of Vastum, Tomb Mold, Witch Vomit, and Fetid from the same label. Call it plagiarist, copy-paste death metal if you want, but few bands can actually capture the sound of decomposition in musical form as well as Cerebral Rot, and as death metal teaches us, that's a process which inevitably repeats itself. I already own two copies of this album, one for home, one for the car, and I might want a third one to store in a putrefying pile of entrails and bacterial slime. Death awaits!

Rating: 9.6 out of 10

Review by chrisc7249 on July 18, 2022.

It doesn't get much more disgusting than this… Cerebral Rot is incredibly gross from front to back, and this album, their 2019 debut Odious Descent Into Decay, is a prime example of the pure sickness this band is capable of. While a little repetitive towards the back end, there's no denying that these Seattle death metallers have some genuine songwriting chops to keep them afloat in the swamp of shit.

Autopsy is perhaps one of my favorite death metal bands ever, due to their pure rawness and unrelenting riff work, particularly on their first album. They also had that disgusting production and the twisted way of arranging songs… I bring this up because Cerebral Rot has given me that feeling of old school Autopsy more than most other bands that try their style in the modern day. The production isn't as brilliant as that on "Severed Survival," but it's still incredibly thick, oozing at the seams with filth and hatred, the drums seeping with organicity and the guitars are crunchier than a fresh bottle of Vintage.

The vocals are… eh. They're good, but they definitely don't stand out. They are drenched in reverb and it's hard to make out anything the vocalist is saying, and they convey little to no emotion. Still, they don't necessarily hurt or help the music so we'll consider it a non-factor. The bass blends in with the guitars and doesn't have much time to stand out, but I'm a big fan of the tone which is thick, and much like everything else, disgusting.

The songwriting follows the same patterns for every song. Groovy drumming and riffs, slow parts, then blasting parts, then slowing back down while the vocalist belches over the sickness below. The first four songs are easily the best of the album - the remainder of the songs aren't bad, not at all, but they just don't do anything new to really stand out and keep the album flowing perfectly. It definitely becomes a drag towards the end when you've consumed 45 minutes of the same thing.

Cerebral Rot is definitely thick, muddy and a must listen for fans of modern death metal. However, it isn't the greatest thing to come out in the past few years, but I'll be damned, man, it does kick ass. The first four tracks especially leave me feeling suffocated and drained of life. I haven't gotten around to the second album yet, but if it continues to build off of this one and add some more ideas… I can't wait to give it a listen.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Alex on July 30, 2019.

At the announcement that Cerebral Rot full length record would be contaminating the scene, immediately my appetite made room and began shouting. Even after hearing many fantastic death metal records out this year, my thirst had not been quenched to say the least. In the quest of seeking material with an infinite posture, impatience grew fretfully high. Cerebral Rot's debut needed to be progressed into something more recognized; a record signifying a confident leap from the position earned beforehand. Thus said, Odious Descent into Decay is that album; it has developed the foundation laid by the previous installment. Knowing the members involved in Cerebral Rot have been active participants in Fetid and Caustic Wound, some of the DNA is brought and injected, making this effort from the band a merging of identities that eventually corrupting the sound of the music for the better. I've had countless play-throughs of the new record; thus I have come to value the music indefinitely. The abstruse artwork on Odious Descent into Decay adds to the total package and boosts the musical appeal. The meaty kick of the bass drum, the crack of the snare, the hungry vocals and craving cry of the guitars has turned this full length into more than Cerebral Rot's debut, it's now a death metal gem. Kudos to the team responsible for capturing the rawness of the music yet still clearly projecting its sonic storm; easily making Odious Descent into Decay one of the best produced death metal records of 2019. It will be interesting to see if any band rises to the occasion of dethroning Odious Descent into Decay, quite a strenuous, energy and resource depleting task it would prove to be; but good luck to those attempting to do so. 

Cerebral Rot made a huge impact with their 2018 demo Cessation of Life. It caused quite a stir within the underground of death metal, that at the time had already gotten accustomed to the latest trend of bands playing to the throne of the old school. However, Cerebral Rot, though doing the same, possessed a condemning aura unlike their peers; their blend of raw sounding produced death metal mixed with grotesque themes of decomposition showed that they were more than a face amongst faces. Comprised of members involved in Crurifragium, Fetid, Chronic Tomb and Demoncy, Cerebral Rot had with them the huge task of producing a record that would see their name elevated to the status of Tomb Mold, Undergang, Vastum ect. Almost a year later since the release of Cessation of Life, a new obscenity would materialize within the bowels of their creative cesspool, a rancorous stench of biological canker permeates from the unsound vault of 20 Buck Spin. Odious Descent of Decay brings the filth to the masses bountifully and unapologetically; the sore of the sickness has spread, the fungus vitiating the cells has now been transmitted like an epidemic in the underground. Cerebral Rot have risen to the task of engineering a record, that for me, currently battles with Sempiternal Dusks’ "Cenotaph of Defectuous Creation" for the best death metal release of 2019 thus-far. What’s excreted here sounds as though it had been contrived within the distinguished, yet disgusting death metal demo domain of 1990, more specifically, Cenotaph’s (Mexico) "Tenebrous Apparitions" ep and the likes of. Odious Descent Into Decay is a scripture dug from the swampy trenches of swirling infirmities, delivered on a silver platter to satiate the sick.

The diseased bowels of Cerebral Rot have become active once again, after fidgeting worrisomely, it would meet its peak of provocation, hence the sudden explosion of excrement is now plastered across the scene. The eruption is signaled by the title track, 'Odious Descent into Decay', reintroducing the band to those already familiar with and souls new to this form of loathsomeness; the collective of Zach, Drew, Clyle and Ian begin the disgusting plunge with all the qualities autochthonic to the image and sound of Cerebral Rot. Loaded with sublime shifts in tempo and sudden stringed dispersals, the 45-minute session of sordidness had begun on a positive note. The musical affluence here has taken a step up from their demo in striving for lengthier and at the same time, memorable tunes that hold the listener/s attention steadily. Vocally I’m beyond impressed given Purveyor of Destruction's intimidating, roaring, guttural ability in providing the music with an aura of torrential oppression and disintegration. The session of malpractice is fortified by more than commendable performances by Drew, Clyle and Zach, their chemistry as a band shows distinguishably; the punishing pound of the snare is matched with cauterizing riffs heard on 'Odious Descent Into Decay', 'Reeking Septic Mass' and 'Sardonic Repentance' just to list a few. The momentum, technical flare and tuneful swing are distributed evenly across the album in ensuring the experience does nothing less than please and exceed expectations. Then, when touched by the hands of a primal production, it’s as if you're trapped somewhere between the sway of  Darkthrone’s "Soulside Journey" and Cenotaph’s "Tenebrous Apparitions". Odious Descent into Decay is extravagant, circumspect-fully crafted and grotesquely romanticized.  

Mummified offerings to the mad/Medications from exotic hemispheres 

• Odious Descent into Decay
• Putrefaction (Eternal Decay)
• Primordial Soup of Radioactive Sewage 

Salivating while staring at the source of sickness 

• Swamped in Festering Excrementia
• Sardonic Repentance 
• Foul Stench of Ruination 

Rating: 9.8 out of 10