Review: “Rotting Dominions” by Plagued

Mastered by Dan Swanö (Barren Earth, Hypocrisy, Novembers Doom) and with cover artwork by Mohammed Khoirul Anam (Reanimated, A Templar’s Burden, Summoned to Die) the debut EP “Rotting Dominions” by Plagued is one that holds much promise. Produced, recorded and mixed by lead guitarist Benjamin Holmes, who surrounds himself with vocalist Chris Binks, rhythm guitarist Chris Poll, bassist Jay Rutterford and drummer Joey Mac, the presentation is one of Old School Death Metal with influences from other sub-genres. Those are said to include Swedish Death Metal, Hardcore, Metalcore and Thrash with each member having a different background, the riff driven song writing being one thing that they can all agree upon…

The English five piece build atmosphere with an melodic introduction to the skull crushing “Boneshaper” that dissipates with a whirlwind of percussive battery and riffs clearly created by lovers of the HM-2 Swedish Death Metal sound and bands like Entombed and Dismember. It has to be said that the mix has been nailed, so you get a punishing drum sounds and rumbling bass that clearly has old school roots but with the twist of the knife that is modern production value. Binks vocal performance on the opening cut is vicious, clean enough that you can hear every single lyric of his venous tirade while being harsh enough to feel fittingly savage, the solo on this one being the coup de grace on a mid-tempo chugger that slithers like a poisonous snake. The aggression continues with the complete annihilation of all enemies that is “Sporeborn“, a cut which has a bridge that will encourage two steppers to take to the floor before the final bloodthirsty burst of blast beasts over menacing and sinister guitar work.

War drums pound during the groove laden “Malediction” which cuts like a hot knife through butter, the sonic abrasions as nasty as some of the unhinged vocal moments. Binks reaches  almost feral levels of insanity on this one, the eclectic sounding solo adding a touch of inter-dimensional madness to proceedings which is a nice touch. By the time this one reaches its bitter end the influences have bled through the bandages somewhat with Gatecreeper and perhaps even Frozen Soul coming to mind with the bands dominating and demanding sounds.

Wrapped in the stench of rotting flesh “Fentylation” confirms that Plagued can do ominous atmospheres very well as another Hardcore inspired bridge pushes their crossover appeal. That may mean that a few purists will chose to ignore them but they will do so at their own peril as with each zombified corpse unleashed in Bink’s lyrical narrative there is a good chance of getting an infection. On that score the record is finished with the metaphorical cherry on the cake that is “Divine Infection“, which is a classic box full of sharp objects. Resistance is of course futile with the apocalyptic tale one to savour, the blood and thunder approach a deliverance to evil, especially with that epic slow down in the final third. On this evidence, the next stop is Maryland Deathfest [8/10]

Track Listing

1. Boneshaper
2. Sporeborn
3. Malediction
4. Fentylation
5. Divine Infection

“Rotting Dominions” by Plagued is out 27th February 2026 and will be available over at bandcamp