Sunday, February 10, 2019

Prostitute Disfigurement: Left In Grisly Fashion




I remember, years back, perusing through the old Unmatched Brutality distro and seeing untold numbers of putrid death metal and goregrind bands that I couldn’t even fathom existed. One such band happened to be, Prostitute Disfigure. Now, I would imagine, the band has drawn some interest based on such a heinous name alone, which I know caught my eye. After listening to a few tracks online, I decided to take a chance on the album “"Left in Grisly Fashion"

"Left in Grisly Fashion" is a straight forward offering of brutal death metal that is as vile as the band’s name. Of course, when discussing brutal death metal, terms like vile and disgusting are not necessarily bad labels to garner. Prostitute Disfigurement set out to create a very dark and disturbing album, one that was destined to both shock and impress whomever dared listen to their album. I will say, that their mission was accomplished.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this album. I figured this would be another single chord guitar chug fest, with programmed drums and regurgitation vocals for ten straight songs. However, this is one of those times, I was glad to be wrong. The first thing you’ll notice on “Left in Grisly Fashion” is the level of musicianship from the band.

With two guitarists, Prostitute disfigurement create a twin assault of monstrous riffs and crushing rhythms that hook the listener, convincing them that they are in store for a talented display from the guitar work. Now, we’re not talking Maiden level of harmonizing or leads, but as I’ve found with other brutal death metal bands (Frightmare for instance) these guys know they’re way around their instruments and you’ll hear a high level of talent throughout the album.

As for the drums, again, I was happy to hear that they were not programed infinite blast beats with no substance. The drums here really add a nice layer of depth to the brooding atmosphere of the album. The speed of the blast beasts and double bass is always on display, but they are varied in a way that play in unison with the duel guitars. At times, the match the rhythm of the guitars, which create some melodic bridges before choruses, while at other times, they are unleashed to create a world of hurt that each song is immersed within.

Of course, no one can understand what the singer is saying, but that's kind of Brutal death metal's shtick, so as long as you know that going into this, it shouldn't be a problem. They are super deep and downright scary sounding, which again, only help the band live up to its gruesome allure.

Unfortunately, the album does suffer from a lack of creativity on a few songs. With ten songs clocking in at just over 29 minutes, I felt that a few songs near the end such as “Shotgun Horror” and “In Deaths’ Decay” needed more substance, as they fall into the “just another brutal death song” category. However, songs such as “Left in Grisly Fashion” and “The Corpse Garden” show the band’s ability at creative songwriting, so they more than make up for a few blemishes.

I know many consider brutal death to be more of a novelty genre and given how many bands out there play a very uninspired brand of this music, I understand why. However, bands like Prostitute Disfigurement prove that not all brutal bands are alike and that some of these guys can actually play some interesting and compelling music.

Highlights: "Left in Grisly Fashion", "Body to Ravage", "The Corpse Garden"

Rating: 3.5

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