Review by Vladimir on January 3, 2024.

Last year, I had the opportunity to check out the release of a polish death metal band Tortured Corpse from Silesia, which was their debut EP Rites Of Putridity And Death. Overall, I found that EP to be pretty generic for a death metal release but still nothing terrible or avoidable, however on the very beginning of 2024, they released their second EP Burial Mounds. Let’s take a look at what they managed to come up with after almost a year since the release of their previous EP. 

After 20 seconds of flies buzzing and intense vomiting in the toilet, we finally kick off with the first track 'Lord Of The Worms', showcasing violently brutal death metal consisted of insanely heavy guitar riffs, blood wrenching guttural vocals and drums that incorporate thrash metal drumming, blast beats and mid-tempo drumming. The songs heavily rely on brutality and wicked atmosphere that is expressed through the genuinely traditional death metal output from the band, which for the most part is stylistically consistent and pretty intense sounding. The band also managed to throw in a cover of Impetigo’s 'Boneyard' as the final track on the EP, which I think fits quite well with three previous songs.

Overall, I’d say that the EP is very easy to follow along with all four songs that pretty much keep the same mood flowing all throughout, and it is indeed a solid listening experience from start to finish. In comparison to its predecessor Rites Of Putridity And Death, it is certainly a highly improved performance in terms of the songwriting and overall execution, as well as the sound production which did a very solid job at capturing that oldschool death metal essence. What I really like about this EP other than the overall performance is the purple cover art that represents a very macabre and wicked vibe to it, and I certainly prefer that over the generic gore and torture art from the previous EP. 

After checking out this EP, I felt much more satisfied than I did after their previous output, which in itself is a very enjoyable and a pretty solid death metal performance. I can definitely say with certainty that Burial Mounds is an improvement from Rites Of Putridity And Death and it is just objectively better in every way. I believe that this latest release hints at the kind of direction they’ll be going from now on in terms of the kind of ideas that were incorporated, and I have no doubt that their creativity will only expand from here. 

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Michael on October 24, 2023.

What is the color of rain? Hm, this is a tricky question. At first thought, you might think about the different colors while you see the rainbow when it is raining and the sun is lurking through the clouds. But you could also think about the sound when the rain comes pouring down from the skies. It can be very nice but when I think about the sound of the rain in our gutter it is pretty annoying, especially at night when you want to sleep. And of course you can think of the way the rain is falling – mild drizzle or pouring cats and dogs and sometimes causing terrible deluges. Bram Bruyneel who was responsible for the latest Schavot album cover did a fantastic job here with this cover painting.

With Oceans Above the Dutch guys in The Color Of Rain (featuring Gerhans Meulenbeld (Sad State Of Decay), Floris Velthuis (Asgrauw / Schavot) and Devi Hisgen (Teitan); have created a musical counterpart to this description I just did. On their debut album you will find a lot of devastating soundscapes that if it was rain doesn't make you to leave your house (listen to the heavy dissonant and very repetitive riff attacks in the title track) but also some very nice and relaxing sounds that make you want to dance in the warm summer rain. What makes the album very diverse are the very nested parts which combine very technical and often very dissonant moments with some sections that are easier accessible to the listener because they have a little bit more melodies in it. 'Translucence' is a perfect example for this mixture of stylistic elements. In a split second you have almost balladic structures and then all of a sudden the guys come back with fury and hate and pour a bucket of water over your head with the heaviness. 'Darkness Cloaks The Cradle' almost sounds a little bit like The Gathering with their “Mandylion” breakthrough album at the start only to switch into something absolute insane that sounds like absolute hate and desperation after about one minute. It is a little bit tricky to explain how the whole thing sounds, maybe it is best to describe as a mixture between old Cynic and Deathspell Omega. And this is also the difficult part: is it death or (post) black metal? Maybe The Color Of Rain is something in between. Of course this isn't just because of the really sick guitars with a lot of tremolo picking and the pummeling drums but also because vocalist Devi Hisgen does a really insane, sometimes slight schizophrenic voice performance here. What I can promise you is that you will never ever find more than 20 seconds to calm down a little bit because the album is such much full of energy (negative and positive) so it is a wild hunt from the start to the end. But be warned – don't listen to the album while you have a bad day or while you feel unsettled (or while you write your tax return)

The whole album really isn't an easy listening experience because a lot of parts on it don't let to be explored too easily. It is a little bit like cracking a Brazil nut. It is very hard to open it but once you get to open it you can truly enjoy the content. So enjoy the drizzling rain but don't be surprised if you get totally soaked by some really cold blackish acid rain.

Rating: 8 out of 10 black rainbows