Review: “Self Titled” by BrainBath

The rising New Wave Of Scottish Death Metal continues to grow like an oncoming storm with bands like Penny Coffin and Chestcrush joining already established acts like Scordatura and Hellripper helping to resurrect the once considered corpse of a genre, injecting new blood and fresh ideas that are once again building the scene and momentum at rapid pace. The latest act looking to leave their mark like the slap and nail drag on your face left by a woman scorned are BrainBath, who have already been fortunate enough to play sold out shows in Glasgow and Edinburgh in support of bands like Nervosa and Burning Witches. Taking a self styled DIY or DIE attitude and  inspired by the so called golden age of the grotesque era of the genre in bands like Entombed, Obituary and Hellhammer their self titled debut EP sold out of a limited edition of 12″ Blood Red vinyl before they even left the pressing plant…

The classic quote “The Mind Is A Labyrinth…” from Dr. Philip Channard in Hellraiser II: Hellbound sets the scene with a sinister edge as the band build the darkness with the slow rumble of the bass and double kick, an unhinged cackle of vocalist Warmaster Kwondo introducing “Garbage Truck Suicide” before his larynx shredding vocals threaten our ear drums for the first time. Swirling downtempo grooves burst into flame with slick transitions into rampaging Death Metal groove. The sonic abrasions continue at breakneck pace with “Dumped In Septic Waste” and while the overall sound is classically raw, it doesn’t sound as if it was recorded in a cave. Everything has been well mixed so the sinister lead moments shine against the darkness of the powerhouse rhythmic pummelling, the buzzsaw guitar tones perfectly in keeping with genre greats of yester year. You may actually find yourself chanting along with the chorus of “The Stench of Burning Human Flesh“, something that will go down well at the bands live shows because it’s as infectious as an STD and stupidly fun that it makes you crack a smile. It’s like listening to Municipal Waste playing Death Metal, something reinforced by the Thrash influenced riffs and  cannibalism of “Stripped Clean“, which is just hilariously good Mosh pit calling fun. The storytelling quality of the lyrics is second to none here and fortunately you don’t need a magnifying glass and a lyric sheet to understand the narrative because the uncleans are perfectly comprehendible while still being satisfyingly dirty. The Hardcore Punk energy of  “Boneyard” is circle pit worthy, its simple chord changes and galloping drums allowing Warmaster Kwondo to do the talking and finish the EP in style, while at the same time showing another side to the band, the side that was clearly influenced by the same bands that influenced the likes of Mayhem back in the day, while providing it doesn’t need to be complicated to be cool [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Garbage Truck Suicide
2. Dumped In Septic Waste
3. The Stench of Burning Human Flesh
4. Stripped Clean
5. The Thing: From Another World
6. Boneyard

“Self Titled” by BrainBath is out now and available over at bandcamp