The old school of death metal is one that has never and likely never will lose its presence in the world of metal, and its number of students is truly massive. Countless bands come from all over to try their hand at such a renowned style to varying degrees of success. We can be treated to real class acts like Under the Church, but all too often we’re given something that doesn’t live up to the old school. With their debut album, Defamatory tries their hand at it, and what came out was a surprisingly good effort.

I’ve always associated old school death metal with riffage and tying all the gore and blood together with melodies that really keep you hooked into it all quite nicely. Imagine early Cannibal Corpse or the more recent and aforementioned act of Under the Church to get an idea of that. It works very well if you know how to pull it off, and Defamatory clearly understood how to execute such a nasty sound with their debut effort to make it an experience of undeath that’s all but very interesting to behold. “Premature Burial” doesn’t have much meat to it in that there are eight tracks and not all but one stretches over four minutes, so we sadly don’t get a lot of time with this record. However, Defamatory makes up for it in absolute spades as they weave simplistic yet immensely entertaining to where “Premature Burial” is a record that you can really sink your teeth into and fucking enjoy every single morsel you get. Everything from the sound of the vocals to the tuning of the strings and the very dynamics of the drums come together amazingly well – not perfect, but very admirable nonetheless – and that helps this debut allow Defamatory to really show that they know what the fuck they’re doing. It’s quite a nice change from small-town bands just being loud and calling it old school, but “Premature Burial” shows that these Columbians are the real fucking deal from start to finish.

New acts are always as promising as they are dangerous simply because there’s no way of knowing which way they’re going to go. Thankfully, Defamatory is going in the best direction possible and their debut album is immaculate proof of such. “Premature Burial” is a very engaging listen for any fan of the old school of death metal that really wants to get acquainted with an album that loves being intimate with its listener.

LISTEN to “Premature Burial” on Bandcamp here.

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