Infesticide / In Obscurity Revealed (Split EP Review)

Split releases continue to be a great way for listeners to discover underground bands, and what better way for bands that share some members to jointly work on material?  This is the case with the recently released split EP from Mexican death metal groups Infesticide and In Obscurity Revealed, who have two common members and have put together a split that showcases their takes on death metal.  Both have a noticeable slant towards an old-school sound and while there are some similarities between how they approach their songwriting, there are enough notable differences to make all four tracks worth your time.

Infesticide leads the charge with two new songs, their first new material since last year’s Envenoming Wound full-length.  Where that material had a rougher around the edges feel where the instrumentals sometimes felt on the verge of collapse as they delivered a frantic dose of death/thrash, the performances have been tightened up significantly while retaining that rabid and intense approach.  The band still sounds very much like Altars of Madness era Morbid Angel with some Teutonic thrash in there as well, also reminding me of newer acts like Sweden’s Vampire.  But the tightness of the instrumentals allows you to focus on the rawer drum sound and scorching guitar riffs that dominate the two songs, showcasing the same type of twisting and turning attack that remains as appealing as before.  Isaías SpeedBlosky also adds to this intensity with immense growls that are drenched in a little bit of echo and tower above the recording.  Riff wise “Blackfire Permeate” stood out a bit more than “Putrefact Offerings”, but both are consistent back-to-back and show a band continuing to grow while staying true to their old-school approach.

In Obscurity Revealed’s two songs have a similar blend of blasting and fast paced tempos, but rather than going for that exact same Morbid Angel sound the material gives off a bit more of a blackened death metal vibe.  The tone here favors the low end a bit more, with more prominent bass and drums giving off a heavier, muscular tone that sometimes makes me think of Beherit and Blasphemy at some points alongside death metal heavyweights like Deicide.  Like Infesticide’s side of the split, the performances are razor sharp and go for all-out violence as they build in intensity, but the emphasis on the low end and sinister atmosphere make “Bloodstorm” and “Under the Vomit Seal” the highlights of the entire release for me.  The former steals the show with its creepy sampled intro, jagged riffs, and roaring final solo that leaves destruction in its wake.  Vocals are handled by Fabrizio Melgar and skew towards more guttural and extremely low growls, though they’re also drenched in a bit of echo that allows them to stand above the instrumentation.  It doesn’t change the style In Obscurity Revealed was going for on their full-length Glorious Impurity in 2018 too drastically, though I do prefer the mixing on the split a bit more.

Neither of these groups is significantly deviating from what you’d expect from old-school death metal or even blackened death metal, and yet they both deliver killer riffs that pull from slightly different sets of influences with the same genres.  The tightening up of the performances and tweaks to production values make a big difference for me when compared to their full lengths from the past few years and make for a split where the material flows well no matter which band you’re listening to.  This is well worth checking out for fans that want rabid and powerful death metal and leaves me excited to see where Infesticide and In Obscurity Revealed head next.  Infesticide / In Obscurity Revealed is available from Blood Harvest Records.

-Review by Chris Dahlberg

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