Cenotaph
Puked Genital Purulency

Turkey, at least according to rumors, is considered a land renowned for its torture and torments; historically, I have no idea how reliable this is, but musically, it definitely is... Cenotaph is the proof. There are bands with this name in every part of the world, in Mexico, Poland, and even here in Italy; but these guys are by far the worst, delighting the ears of the most hardcore fans with a Californian-flavored Brutal Death. I say "flavored" because our guys have quite a personal "style" that distances them (light years) from European Death and (just a few kilometers) from the American one. Naturally, names like Odious Mortem (perhaps the band most similar to them, even if markedly inferior) and Decrepit Birth will come to mind, but just one listen is enough to understand that these five Turks have a class that sets them apart.

From the title, which is very delicate (not to mention the (art)work), it's clear in which direction the lyrics go, so I'd rather talk about the musical content, otherwise, I'll end up getting into a sweet spot.

It was 2001 when these guys released their second album, and so far, they've stopped at the third release, but this is where you need to go if you really want to understand what makes them different from all the others; in the subsequent work, they will only improve upon (this must be said) what they did on "Puked Genital Purulency." Seven tracks, "few," someone might argue, but sufficiently protracted to exceed a total duration of half an hour: "helped" in this sense by the usual intros picked from some horror B movie.

The first thing that stands out about this band is their high technical ability: despite the new generation of Brutal Death bands having quite skillful instrumentalists in their ranks, our guys stand out not only in terms of skill but also in inventiveness. Not everyone can easily manage the storms of stop-and-go present on this album or build songs of this type with little reliance on the Blast beat, but our drummer succeeds in this endeavor; and considering that at the time he was little more than a novice, it is clear how exceptional his talents are. Counter-times, accelerations, and the inevitable deadly slowdowns follow each other smoothly, as if they were routine, without our guy even breaking a sweat; and if you think that, all things considered, technically he demonstrates complex but not impossible numbers, think about the compositional work behind drumming like this to understand the drummer's talents. If the rhythm section is Cenotaph's pride, the guitarists are no less; an intricate riffing that makes extensive use of Palm Mute (even in the scales) and parts in counter-time with the drums leaves no doubts about the technical qualities of the two and instead demonstrates a great taste for virtuosity. It's an atypical virtuosity, though, not the classic Sweep Picking that metalheads around the world love, but a more insidious virtuosity dedicated to genre enthusiasts; perhaps a particularly difficult counter-time or perhaps a scale so chopped and fast that it makes your hands ache when you try to play it. In short, don't expect any show-offs in the style of Spawn Of Possession, but a less baroque, less technical virtuosity with a significantly superior impact. A merely decent performance from the vocalist who uses a typically "Californian" Growl following in the footsteps of Disgorge, very durable but infinitely flat (though it improves significantly in the subsequent "Pseudo Verminai Cadaverium"). The bass, as often happens, is kept out of the picture, so I don't feel like judging it.

And now let's talk about the mood and production, even if I know many might find it nonsensical to pair a technical element with an emotional one. And yet, in an album like "Puked Genital Purulency," the two are not so antithetical and complement each other. One of the unmistakable aspects of Cenotaph, in my opinion, is their ability to recreate nightmarish atmospheres on the level of the much-loved Autopsy without sacrificing the quality of the music; perhaps that’s why many prefer to say they’re a Death Grind band. I refute this and say that Cenotaph plays pure Brutal Death, making extensive use of themes and resorting to typically Grindgore atmospheres. However, I wish to clarify that, musically speaking, our Turks do not sound like Grind. Certainly, such claustrophobic and decidedly horrorific atmospheres can be misleading; unlike many other bands tied to the same imagery, there is not a bit of irony in Cenotaph, neither thematically, musically, nor emotionally. Listening to an album like this doesn’t bring to mind one of those amusing horror films full of rivers of fake blood: it instead conjures real horrifying images, blurring the line between reality and fiction, without even a smile. I can already imagine how many of you will think that if it is already quite reprehensible to joke about themes of death, seriously discussing them makes one a true criminal, and even if in certain respects I might agree, I focus more on emotional impact. Does "Puked Genital Purulency” leave a mark? Does it have something more compared to other Brutal Death albums? These are the questions you should be asking, and regarding both skill and mood, the answers are affirmative.

The album, as you can deduce from the score, is not without flaws; although it has great songs like "Multipurpose Utilization," others are more conventional and drag the judgment down. In any case, this remains a damn good album brimming with technique and personality.