Horrified melodies on a half-dead guitar introduce a central motif of creeping dread and cosmos-level misery amidst the distant howls of a wounded, many-tongued obscenity beyond as Hungarian ‘old school’ death metal inspired trio Mephitic Grave shove us down the throat of their sophomore full-length album. An experience of markedly rotten tones and intensified pace ‘Dreadful Seizures‘ finds the band iterating upon their debut while identifying and flexing their strengths with a more dynamically stated result which never steps far outside of the pure and simple death metal realm. Primitive and punishing as the ride through is, their growling and thumping craft finds an impressive level of variation and stylized movements (riffs, basically) which thankfully doesn’t rely upon the usual forms of greying barbarism for its classicist affect.

Mephitic Grave formed circa 2018 under the name Mothrot before eventually expanding into a quartet and changing to their current mark around 2019. Instead of going through the process of demoing songs and shopping them around they’d gotten to work on a largely do-it-yourself full-length (‘Into the Atrium of Inhuman Morbidity‘, 2021) that’d echoed with the must of the rehearsal room for the sake of a raw, crumbling sound which’d perked the ears of folks who can appreciate ruggedness of an early 90’s demo tape level grime. It’d reviewed well in my hands as I’d found their style had the bounding and thrashing etch of brutal United States-borne groups such as Rottrevore but also the fumbling, doomed waltz of (early) Purtenance with very simple riff shapes and progressions at the heart of their primitive but not unthinking aggression. We can expect iteration, similar sound design and action which retains the brutally raw yet doomed-over qualities of their debut in approach of ‘Dreadful Seizures‘.

The biggest change you’ll note while whipping your brains through this ~40 minute record is that Mephitic Grave have picked up the pace, kicking at each piece a bit harder and moving from something distinctly infused with Finnish death tendencies (think of Funebre‘s pre-remastered state and its shambling sound) and now an attack which feels as if it has more to do with the simpler edge of early Grave and Carnage while breaking that up with faster-hopping movements which maybe aim for ‘Spring of Recovery‘-era Adramelech but land in a Bolt Thrower kinda place more often than not. If you read between the lines that’d suggest Abhorrence‘s (Finland) tape is still part of their ideal. We feel this most on some of the more standout pieces on the second half of the album, such as “Tremadora Ritual” and “Corpsepowder”. When picking through these songs riff-after-riff it begins to feel like Mephitic Grave understood what strengths their first record upheld and smartly focused in that direction without smoothing over their rough edges too much.

Flatly growled diction in a run-on descriptive style still lends a garage-bound death metal muster to Mephitic Grave‘s sound, an approach fans of Headsplit Records grimier death metal stuff should immediately appreciate as we chunk into “Catacomb Mind” with a mid-paced, simply shaped riff which grinds to a halt as the band reinforce the use of ‘evil’ guitar melodies presented in zombified strings as part of their horror-death sound. Though the guitar tone is warmer and shakily harmonized between the two guitarists they do their best to synch up with drummer (also co-guitarist) Knot‘s loose and mostly practical movements, bludgeoning at his work with an approach which might bring Master to mind one moment and Cannibal Corpse the next, still cognizant of the thrashing side of early Florida death metal and the ancient moldering step of Purtenance‘s debut. This is the least precision point of the quartet’s work but I appreciate how realistic the render of the whole thing is, lending what I’d consider a basement level approach to sound design which indicates simple recording techniques and an unfussed with sound.

As a fan of ‘old school’ death metal ‘Dreadful Seizures‘ is clearly identifiable as the result of devoted fandom and very specific taste (and ideals) applied to the craft, folks who keep it simple but’ve learned how to build quite a lot without needing any extraneous factors or flash to get their point across. As such Mephitic Grave‘s discography begins to shape itself as a mean, menacing force with a blunt yet often tuneful (or merely crushing) approach to classic sounds. Though we can easily suggest the realm of interest explored herein at face value the immersion available to the listening experience provided by the scope of ‘Dreadful Seizures‘ will likely be dependent on the listener as a broader range of pace and tone ensures there are many twists and turns than expected as we slop down down the groaning hallway presented.

My favorite pieces here were split between the slower, doomed feeling of their first LP (“Becoming the Shape of the Restless Shades”) being revived, the more kicking songs on the running order like “House of the Necromancer”, and the barreling scenes envisioned by “Secret of the Vermins” and “Tremadora Ritual” all of which amount to the tribulations of the ‘old school’ underground well enough. Though I didn’t walk away from this record having been blown away, I do think these folks have directly improved upon their first album and developed their oeuvre to an impressive next level compared to the very focused, single-minded vision of their debut. A high recommendation.

---