Review by Stellarium on April 9, 2024.

"Espousal" is a term used to denote the adoption of a way of life, or a belief system. This seems wholly apt for the Swedish death metal scene from around 1991 to 1996, maybe even to present day depending on who you ask. It's also a fucking excellent title for this cassette tape by Swedish metalheads Disgorge (not to be confused bands of the same ilk from Argentina, Germany, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway and finally, The United Kingdom) I'm sure you can also see the confusion that will arise whenever anyone in the death metal universe mentions the band name. From what I am able to determine, the Swedish collective that this article attends to are one of the first to use it, so they can have a free pass.

This tape, especially in light of being the first demo release is a truly superb forgotten nugget that is simply begging to be re-discovered. What makes it stand out, twenty-seven years later? Let's delve down and take a look.

There is a intro of sorts, attached to the beginning of opening song 'Reborn' which sounds like some sort of ritual chant, possibly Tribal or Satanic, but truly it's hard to tell and doesn't really matter. The immediate brutality of the demo follows the intro as it leads directly into it with technical drum fills and extremely gruff, deep vocals that remind me of two releases that came further down the line - but very similar in execution - Akercocke's debut album "Rape Of The Bastard Nazarene", and Evil Incarnate's often under appreciated and flawed debut offering, "Blackest Hymns Of God's Disgrace In Truth", there is more than a passing hint of similarities in these releases, such is the influence of early death metal bands entertaining the same handful of tropes, but it has to be said that when something in this genre isn't broken, only a dickhead would try to fix it.

The other things about Disgorge's initial release that threaten to beget a resurgence are the clear and crisp production that belie all expectations from a self-released cassette from the early-mid nineties - so cohesive it is that every instrument can be heard clearly and in a deep unison with each other; all pronounced enough to comfortably lead and jostle their way into the limelight, while being heady enough to know their place and remain at the front of the marching band. This is something I find deeply difficult for many artists to translate onto a finished product, and I won't profess to knowing how easy this is on a budget or anything to infer knowledge of production, but I will show my confusion as to why it isn't something that I hear more regularly with the more extreme genres of metal.

Finally on the shortlist of talking points is the utilisation of the guitar solos, particularly the ones on 'Importunate Sermon' and 'Insanity' in which Martin Petersson is able to convey a mystical, Eastern-sounding melody that seems to be both entrancing and mournful, sometimes simultaneously. Add in the groovy rhythmic changes that the drummer, Jonas uses to support the solos and we are left with something capable of changing and re-inventing itself with no indication of any talent or technical ability showing signs of stress or decline.

The ultimate thing to take away from this release is that each song has shown something to keep this reviewer listening to it. Not only that, but for at least a solid two-thirds of the recording, I had to make notes on things that really stood out for me and made me rue my earlier inability to discover this band. There is nothing, nothing here that you won't have heard before. However, I wager that you won't have often heard it all this well polished and cohesively. To hear it nearly three-decades after it was originally conceived is probably the most brutal and bloody cut that one could suffer - but at least it lived up to its name.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on April 9, 2024.

Carnivore achieved cult status. Guess this cannot be denied. I just do not understand why. Their crossover thrash commutes between punk-infused, short eruptions and drug-imbued, multi-layered heavy metal stompers. But in hindsight, it seems to me that they focussed too much on provocation. Cheap provocation, to be clear. At first glance, “Race War” with lines like “Your skin’s an ugly colour” seemed to indicate a right-wing band (abominable thought), but “no one wins, we all lose” left some loopholes open for the band. Music-wise, this opulently designed track with double bass supported mega-heavy verses and some speedy sequences indicate a solidly working unit. This is no isolated case. “Retaliation” features a band that acts like a well-oiled machine. Okay, I must say that some parts of the songs are going nowhere. Nevertheless, the band’s song-writing usually shows no serious signs of weakness, neither when it comes to punk-inspired sections nor when the musicians walk on metallic territory.

On the other hand, outstanding tunes are missing. “Retaliation” transports a lot of attitude and was probably an inspiration for later hardcore combos like Biohazard. But the song material itself is just okay, nothing more. Of course, one can enjoy “Angry Neurotic Catholics” or “Ground Zero” to a certain extent, but the constant self-pity of Peter Steele (R.I.P.) is hard to endure. His messages are “My only wrongdoing was being born”, “I wish you had left me unborn” or “Somebody put me out of my misery” – and these excerpts are taken from three different tracks. Insult to injury, Steele’s lyrics are also pretty dubious (“Skins and Bangers joining fight as one”) or / and full of nonsense. “His mother a nun raped by a nazi”, “Reich und roll”… eh what? But I acknowledge, lyrics are just lyrics and music is music (you didn’t know this before, I guess…). So I apologize for this phrase, let’s get back to the music.

The entire B side is a pretty joyless experience. No, the songs aren’t bad and Steele’s bass adds some casual moments. His vocals are (regardless of the lyrical content) powerful and sound natural. His comrades do a technically fine job as well. I also recognise that, just like Nuclear Assault, the three dudes went their own way. In a polarised world of posers and thrashers, Carnivore didn't allow themselves to be completely taken over by the latter side. But the songs lack catchy sections, musical brilliance and a total flop like the Jimi H. cover (“Manic Depression, of course…) or the completely boring instrumental do not make things better. From this follows that songs like “S.M.D.” (from the A side) or “Technophobia” do not leave a lasting impression, at least in my humble opinion) and choruses like the one of “U.S.A. for U.S.A.” want to create an Agnostic Front compatible hardcore feeling, but their impact is small.

As said before, Carnivore’s cult status cannot be denied. “Retaliation” scores with a proper production and its artwork mirrors the apocalypse in a very easily understandable way. But it cannot fulfil the expectations when it comes to the most important thing, the music itself. Once again, the songs are mostly somewhere between solid, acceptable and okay, but far away from justifying the word cult. Just my two cents, I hope you do not understand this as a provocation.

Rating: 6 out of 10