Romanian death metal band Rotheads bring the menace on their second full-length album, Slither In Slime.

From Bucharest, death metal ministers Rotheads have been laying down the riffs since 2014. Originally springing up as a side project for members of the band Keeng Ra’at, Rotherads have definitely become their own thing. Their first long-player, Sewer Fiends (2018), hit the street hard and the ranks of the band’s followers have been swelling ever since. Their music has death metal as its starting point and infuses thrash and surprising catchiness to create something that you will not hear anywhere else.

The new album has seven luscious tracks. “Vampyric Inbreeding” calls the meeting to order with a deceptively straightforward death metal set-up in the rhythm, guitars, and vocals. The divergences are manifest with choppy riffs and tasty licks somehow living in the caustic environment. “Lost in the Cemetery Gardens” sounds like it could be an overture at times; very theatrical and dramatic but also dark. “Gut Mauled” is a walk up a haunted mountain trail with lost guides who turn on you with a grin on their lips and knives in their hands. Yeah. Exactly like that. Great song.

The band next shows us “Gore Coffin,” raring at pace – there is no time to get out of the way. The pliant guitar line has a mesmerizing effect, a hypnotizing influence. “Spectral Visitation” carries with it the weight of doom as it pulls back misty veils to reveal another world. “Skin Forest” is a tome of dark secrets that are both right at hand and also from distant lands. Finally, “Dragged Through Existence” has the last word and makes the most of the opportunity. It is the longest song on the record and the most densely composed, and it will churn beneath the shell of your consciousness long after it seems to be over.

The music on this album is death metal expanded in a way I have never heard before. It is captivating, with all the strong metal roots needed for sustenance and such an incredible variety of otherness that you are constantly engaged while you’re listening to it. Highly recommended.

Slither In Slime is out on July 25^th through Memento Mori. Peruse the label’s website or hit up Bandcamp at the links below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://rotheads.bandcamp.com/album/slither-in-slime

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/rotheads

Memento Mori, http://memento-mori.es/home.php

© Wayne Edwards