Review: “Rotting Flesh” by Burial Extraction

The past couple of years could be described as nothing short of prolific for Burial Extraction as the Death Metal project hailing from Dallas Texas have released an album in 2023’s “A Shadow of Things to Come“, an EP in 2024’s “Expelled” and now in 2025 a second EP in “Rotting Flesh“. A fruitful collaboration between mastermind, vocalist, guitarist and bassist Brian Lyda and session drummer, guitarist and producer Derek Corzine (Blood Thirsty, Crowned In Sorrow), as if the cover art didn’t give the game away, they claim as their own a brutal, old school formula in the vein of Obituary and early-day Mortification…

A powerhouse opening cut “Blood-Soaked Robe” pushes into Extreme Metal territory with passages of blackened guitar work and blast beats separating weighty Death Groove, the caustic roars of “He’s clothed in a blood-soaked robe!” from Lyda making for a scream-a-long, fist in the air moment. A bolt of lightening from a wrathful God, the solo is an absolute face melter, beginning to push the boundaries of what the duo have done previously while working incredibly well. Once it gets going, there is an epic quality to “Pestilence“, the bass acting almost like a second guitar to provide clanky rhythms underneath the Melodic Death Metal leads. Whether the drums are programmed or not is a mystery, there are certainly a few flat sounding cymbal hits in this one but fortunately that doesn’t take away from the overall sound, the powerful rhythms of the finale the metaphorical equivalent of a tank rolling through the streets of a warzone.

Dark melodies play out at the tempo of the damned as “Rotting Flesh” then steps forth, blistering Melodic Death Metal soloing and a whammy bar drop adding a couple of moments of magic to the bitter black. The vocals are once again brutal but the key here is that they are perfectly comprehendible and there can be no mistake in what Lyda is saying. Lyrically the tracks feel very much like Old Testament style tales, the duo’s approach being potentially described as Brook Reeves once described his band Impending Doom – “worshipping God through our gore-sounding music.“. In truth, while those themes are contained within these songs because of the style of the music the message doesn’t feel overpowering or force fed.

Another demonstration of power “The Overseer” has a couple of moments of shriller vocal to cut against the grain of the death growls, the incredible sorching solo arguably the finest on the record. You have to endure a serious bludgeoning to get to that but its more than worth the punishing wait and then there is “Where Creatures Dwell” which cleaves the flesh from the bone with its sonic abrasions. Not so much a grand finale as just an outstanding tune, its a raging, seething Death Metal monster, rampaging through the streets at breakneck speed. The laser guided surgical precision of the riffs is nothing short of masterful and it has to be said that the only issue with this nightmarish collection is that it leaves you wanting more! [8.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Blood-Soaked Robe
2. Pestilence
3. Rotting Flesh
4. The Overseer
5. Where Creatures Dwell

“Rotting Flesh” by Burial Extraction is out 29th August 2025 and is available over at bandcamp.