Gorgosaur
Lurking Among Corpses
Death metal
Released April 25th 2016
Released via Memento Mori records
There isn’t a heck of a lot of information available about this Swedish, DM two piece. Lurking Among Corpses is only their second release, the first being the Gashes And Demise demo from 2014 (of which new versions of all tracks seem to be included herein). It opens up with what seems to be a tribute to 1980s horror movie theme tunes, with Basement Funeral Hymn, but what follows is, for the most part, fairly standard fare d-beat DM, broken up by the occasional groove-heavy riff section.
I have to admit, I’m not a massive fan of the production, but there is a certain aspect to its lo-fi character which may be a bonus to some. There’s a kind of Atari Teenage Riot frantic messiness to the mix. It seems to work better with the more blackened vocals of Åsa Hagström than Martin Schönherr’s full-on, guttural DM approach. While they list bands such as Celtic Frost and Venom among their influences, and these can be he heard to a degree, a better comparison would possibly be early works of fellow Swedes, Entombed, or even more so the previous band featuring many of the same members, Nihilist. Very old school and very dirty.
As a first full-length, LAC is absolutely a solid release in a field which has seen a lot of travel, but it would be nice to see this band develop a little, and grow a more unique identity. There are glints of that coming through already; they’ve got the passion, and a really good grip of what makes a classic death metal riff. It’s the spaces between which seem to need to be brought to the fore a little bit more. If that can be nailed, this could be a truly formidable sound.
3.5/5
Paul Macmillan
Valkyrian Music 