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