Death metal, for all intents and purposes, has always been in a bit of an arms race. There’s a constant unspoken and rarely talked about struggle between the throngs of acts spread throughout the underground on who brings the most intensity to their material. Who brings the heaviness, the most nastiness, the most filth, and the most ass to make their death metal something that gives one an immediate stank face of approval. Perpetually, we are on the search for the next name that can elicit such a reaction from us. In throwing down their second album, Teratoma delivers the sliver of intense nastiness with more than enough ass to give us a performance to remember.

Madness of this sort requires far more than downtuning of the strings and applying some distortion in post-production alongside a riff here or there. It requires plenty of finesse and an impeccable understanding of what you’re looking to conjure into existence with all the right proportions to make for a well-rounded, impactful creation. Without question, Teratoma achieved that to tremendous effect as we bear witness to the immense unfolding of “Longing Voracity”. The sheer weight of presence that Teratoma offers here has a part to play in this overwhelming performance. A horrific display of power that’s oozing with grime and steeped in filth the likes of which only the most diabolical of death metal can ever hope to utilize, “Longing Voracity” is as intoxicating as it is caustic. Teratoma left neither stone unturned nor any prospect left unconquered as their immeasurably thick brand of death and decay washes over your body, mind, and spirit in a miasmic retching that holds nothing back, only ever leaning further into the horrific nature that’s on full display from traumatic beginning to horrifying end. Even once “Longing Voracity” comes to a close, those final howls still rattle in your mind. The air doesn’t quite feel right without the cacophonous damnation that Teratoma demonstrates, and you’re left with no choice but to head back into the fray where, somehow, chaos makes far more sense. “Longing Voracity” doesn’t just offer us intensity; it cultivates everything into such a form that is downright intoxicating simply to be in the presence of.

We’ve seen plenty of instances where bands truly go for the throat and seek to deliver a performance that is as oppressive as it is fascinating. We could sit here for years discussing it and likely never come to an agreeable conclusion, and it’s because of bands like Teratoma that we’re constantly having new and fresh magnificence added to the conversation. There is much that went into the howling hellscape that “Longing Voracity” was born from, and with this being just the second offering from Teratoma, I cannot help but feel as though this act is only barely showing us what they can do.

LISTEN to “Longing Voracity” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Teratoma on Facebook here.

FOLLOW Teratoma on Instagram here.