Calloused by an irreconcilable reality more horrifying than fiction Tampa, Florida-based death-thrashing crossover quartet TORTURERS’ LOBBY take it all in on this debut full-length album, intending to be a blood-scrubbed mirror for the cruel and idiotic mass hypnoses of humanity via thier eclectic, somewhat genre-agnostic oeuvre. From the mid-80’s speed metallic strike of the first riff to the caterwauling, divebombed dooming of the last ‘Deadened Nerves‘ is a miasmic fume of rage and disgust with clear roots in hardcore punk fusion and multi-generational ultra-specific tastes in heavy and extreme metal making for a marriage of complimentary forces rather than clashing, interruptive stances. Sure to catch the raw-thrashing ear first and the death metalpunk mutant mind second no doubt the free-willed movement of this band between realms will initially outpace the conversation they’re trying to start on the dire state of human existence today yet thier work is thrilling and infectious enough in its ride that folks will eventually sink into their deeper points beyond the wrathful riff-after-riff attack served at face value.

Torturers’ Lobby formed as a trio at some point prior to 2021 without any specific sub-genre goal in mind, aiming for a unique but listenable result which was clearly more attuned to a metalpunk edge from the star per their first demo tape (‘Again‘, 2021) a chaotic, raw and not yet fully harnessed black/death-thrashing intensity which was intentionally noisome and kinda wild-ass hardcore punk fed stuff. This was noted as in direct reflection of DIY folks who’d become known within the last decade of the Tampa-area underground music circuit via bands like Horrid Cross. I’m not an expert on that particular scene but I recognize some related bands which’ve been posted up on YouTube channels like Rites of Pestilence over the years. We get a bit of precedence for where this record came from therein but by the time their first 7″ EP (‘Man in Zugzwang‘, 2022) their dark metalpunk sound had taken on clarified production values and a more experting vocal leadership via Adam Shaw. There we get more of a sense of a raw crossover group pushed to a few extremes on songs like “Lumbering and Eristic”, a quasi-blackened deal which seemed to be the path forward.

By the time they were ready to record this full-length they’d on-boarded their current drummer Dwane Nihiser from Church of Disgust and this seems to have been the keystone to unlocking a more deliberately writ and performed side of Torturers’ Lobby. We hear a bit of classic grind, some heavier modern-era gloombro stuff like Final Gasp, and rowdier blackened thrash in their movement but nailing down exactly what these folks are all about becomes a taste that remains amorphous moment by moment. There is some extant tradition of thrash/crossover bands going death metal or deathgrind (Dead Orchestra, Armagedom, Dead Horse, for the sake of myriad example) or groups like Radiation Sickness who just kinda sounded like this but it’d be a stretch to consider this band a direct continuation of any such ideal, at least not on purpose. Otherwise I’d liken the multi-generational crossing of traditional and extreme metal ideals found here with a band like Molten but in this case these folks have more interest in black metal and todays deeper underground hardcore punk aesthetics (see: the Poison Idea-esque swerves taken on “Re-education”) which makes for a different type of dramatic reach echoed within “Reaper’s Impunity” and its faux black metal meets neocrust movements; There is a fine line between doing whatever you want and not being entirely sure what you’re doing and I really appreciate that grey zone being streaked throughout this experience as their work avoids any sense of rote, too clearly defined intent.

Jack of some trades, master of some. — For a succinct enough ~33 minute ten song ride there are more than enough points of varietal indulgence endured here but only just to the point that ‘Deadened Nerves‘ manages to secure its own texture and tonality which is clear enough in its directive despite being borne from unorthodox means. “Barbaric Alchemy” gives us that big heavy metal note up front, the aforementioned “Reaper’s Impunity” tries its hand at gloomy blackened metalpunk melodrama, and “Humanity’s Husk” dials up a distraught and trudging low mood to start before breaking into Torturers’ Lobby‘s own take on blackened death metal, eerie guitar hook and all. While this all seems scatterbrained as we clip through the longest pieces on the album we find there are songs which reinforce these general ventures along the way, such as “Re-education” which acts as a blazon and buffered conjoinment for both their heavy metal and hardcore punk incensed roots. Likewise “Reptilian Hide” finds another pathway back to an extreme thrashing set of riffs while seemingly carrying the basic motif from “Humanity’s Husk” and transforming it without repeating the ideas already framed-up prior.

Every erratic movement counts, every piece feels deliberately placed, and yet there is a certain spiraling chaotic feeling to everything these folks do on this debut which brings ‘Deadened Nerves‘ a sense of old school late 80’s thrash character by virtue of all that it does. This is moreso their kinda classicist, kinda-not style of presentation and frantic performances rather than any particular stylistic tic or genrefied notion. When we’ve got bright ideas repeating maybe twice within a set of rifle-shot ~2-3 minute songs on a short but intense record such as this it’d made sense that leaving Torturers’ Lobby on repeat yielded the best results on my part, first getting into the groove of the experience and then mapping out its key points of death-thrashing aggression and quick to rise dramatic treatments. At the end of the day I was entertained throughout my time with this debut, eventually finding the right angle into their considerable personae and the shocking energy they lead with. A moderately high recommendation.

---