Review by Carl on July 7, 2022.

It sickens my heart (and I mean this in a very good way) to see that gory, old-styled grindcore/death metal seems to be making a return, after quite some time of hanging around in the background while old school death metal, goregrind and brutal death/slam were hogging the spotlight. These last few years there have been some truly great releases by bands such as Pharmacist, Galvanizer, Filtheater, Cadaveric Incubation and very recently Massacred, and among these handsome folk we can also situate Heinous and their debut full length The Basement.

Heinous do not reinvent the wheel here (thankfully), but they deliver the goods in a highly enjoyable and energetic manner. Though not the most original, what they may lack in that category they more than make up for in frothing-at-the-mouth unhinged energy. Savage blasting grindcore parts trade off with slower, early Carcass-like sections, all delivered with hardcore punk energy, creating short sharp shocks of death/grind ferocity, drenched in distortion and feedback. On top of this vile and lethal mixture are the low vocals that have me thinking of bands like Regurgitate and (again) Carcass, and combined with the Repulsion/Disastrous Murmur/early Pungent Stench influenced music, we get an acidic concoction that delivers some serious jabs to the abdomen. Poured into a clear but not overdone production, it all comes bursting out of the speakers without sacrificing the underground spirit this music needs to emanate to stay convincing, and let me tell you, convincing this is for sure! Too bad it's all over in 18 minutes.

This is a very good release in all its aspects: the music tears you a new one without effort, while it all sounds and looks awesome. Playing is tight, the songs are raucous and even catchy at times, and the great cover art makes this a delicious package of death/grind mayhem that should be able to please everyone into the genre.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10