The realm of Scandinavia is one that will likely never cease to disappoint when it comes down to metal as it’s one of the densest places on the planet for a ratio of metal bands to the population as a whole. Death is one of the styles that reign supreme right alongside black metal, but it’s been a while since I heard some truly nasty death metal out of Finland, and tonight I sought to change that. Luckily, I stumbled across Purtenance whose upcoming EP is no less than grotesque.

A lot of bands fail to do much than merely giving a sample of what they’re going for with an EP of simply four tracks, but Purtenance clearly isn’t your typical death metal group as they do much more than make a simple statement with “Paradox of Existence”. One might expect this band to just play death metal given their the umpteenth group from Finland to go for something like that, but Purtenance goes all the fucking way and makes their sound the kind that truly grinds away at your ears whilst smashing your bones into a fine dust. “Paradox of Existence” in every sense of the term really goes for the fucking throat with the intent to spill as much blood as possible, and you can feel it in every single moment of these four tracks even when there’s no music and only the sound of a heart monitor to carry you along. And the horrors that Purtenance spew forth are not only the kind that a general fan of death metal can sink their teeth into, but “Paradox of Existence” shows that this band has versatility with longer songs with the longest being over six minutes done with absolute precision, and the shortest being less than two minutes while being a vicious onslaught that’s an incredibly fitting outro for such a putrid album. It all comes together to form a horrifying visage that has few equals in the underground, and I’d be more than keen to see what other monstrosities Purtenances has churned out after seeing this helping of chaos.

Finland has always been a bountiful land for someone with my musical tastes, and it still rings true with this EP to the very core. Purtenance exceeded my initial expectations, and I couldn’t be any more satisfied with the results than I already am! “Paradox of Existence” is a monstrous piece that any fan of death metal has got to experience if they want to know how truly menacing and pulsating the style can get, and there couldn’t be a more vicious EP to start with!

“Paradox of Existence” releases on September 12th via Xtreem Music!

LISTEN to the first track from “Paradox of Existence” on Bandcamp here or below.

LIKE Purtenance on Facebook here.