Review by Carl on October 20, 2024.

If there's anything that early 90's death metal had in abundance, it's gotta be 7" vinyl EP releases. Some of them became legendary and some of them were just plain bad, but most of these probably just got lost in between the folds of time, either because of bad distribution or else simply vanishing in the flood of releases back then. I guess it's in that last category that we find the subjects of this review, Headrot.

What Headrot has to offer isn't exactly the most intricate approach to extreme metal, with them keeping their compositions none too difficult. The music mostly plows forth at a solid midtempo crunch, sounding heavy as balls, but at times also giving way to frenzied raging grindcore passages that hit hard all the more when set against the punishing midtempo pounding. It's an approach that sees the band alternating between a punishing low and slow pace, with the occasional furious blasting velocity breaking up any feeling of monotony about to crawl in. This gives the music a suitable, kinda schizophrenic edge to it, creating a demented feeling that is exacerbated by the growling roar vocalist Danny Sauro utilizes, with the good man sounding truly ravenous in his doings. He's backed by a solid band churning out low riffing and battering percussive assault, sounding delightfully rotten throughout because of the grainy and grime-encrusted production on offer.

Headrot fits in very well between like-minded platoons of perversity such as Sintury and Internal Bleeding, both acts that do something similar. It may not be the most intricate way of doing things, but it's a damn effective method of operation nonetheless. As a whole, this might be far from polished, accessible, or even refined, but it's an approach that fits this kind of heavy death metal like a glove, punching the listener right where it hurts. And while I usually like my death metal on the faster side of doings, this EP goes down really well in my neck of the woods. Sure, I'll be the first to admit that just that bit more velocity would've been right up my alley, but the way this band breaks up the heaviness with compact bouts of psychotic velocity, it sounds just so demented I can't stop grinning like an idiot listening to this.

This hits like a sledgehammer right between the eyes: it's not subtle at all and hurts all the more because of it.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10