Putrid Pile
Collection Of Butchery

The old Cannibal Corpse are back: this was my first thought after listening to the opening track of this album, thinking I had mistakenly inserted some unknown collection of B Sides of the Buffalo band into the 'Collection Of Butchery' cover.

From the new continent come these Putrid Pile, more precisely from Wisconsin, already home to good Death Metal bands: the group, although not recently formed, has released only a second Full Length in 2005 titled 'The Pleasure In Suffering,' which follows exactly two years after the work I am about to review. The cause of this scant discography can be traced back to numerous lineup changes that literally halved the band, forcing the two remaining members to rely on an electronic drum kit. As I said in the beginning, the sound of this ensemble seeks to return to the roots of Brutal Death Metal and more or less openly refers to the first four works of the aforementioned Cannibal Corpse, known sacred monsters of the genre; this might seem unpromising for all those (like myself) who a priori doubt works that are not very original, especially if they explicitly reference debatable bands like the aforementioned one. In this case, things are different and so are the improvements made by our guys to the sound of the indestructible Buffalo quintet. The umpteenth clones?

More than 'clones,' they could be defined as 'offspring,' a title that would certainly do more justice to Putrid Pile and their work. The technical level is medium-high but certainly not eminent in a musical genre largely based on technique: these guys in fact aim more at the sonic impact rather than flashy technique but they do not forgo presenting a well-played work (something not at all taken for granted in extreme metal). The guitar lines are traditional, perhaps even a bit predictable, but they succeed in the intent to evoke the glories of the golden years of Death metal, the early nineties, when every song invented something new and wanted to hit harder than the others. The riffs follow one another quickly and are numerous enough to build songs with a more than robust structure: compositionally, in fact, the duo shows very good capabilities and manages to put together songs that are anything but sketchy, on the contrary well-crafted and non-repetitive.

Clearly, since the material is not exactly new, it happens that some songs are reminiscent of each other but the duo manages to avoid the worst, that is to say, the most ruthless repetitiveness (a major flaw instead of their masters Cannibal Corpse). The Drum Machine is well programmed, a clear example of how you can 'get blood from a stone': the mediocrity of many ensembles (Mortician to name one) is often attributed to the use of this particular instrument but Putrid Pile manages to disprove anyone who claims such a thing, although it is a fact that a flesh and blood drummer is much less limiting than a virtual one. The Blast Beats are the foundation upon which then tasty variations are developed, always strictly in line with the rigid canons of Brutal Death Metal. Even the bass lines, while within a strong tradition, manage to be creative, thanks to some quite nice breaks.

Twelve songs, some of which are quite short but equally effective; in fact, paradoxically, it is the very concise 'Bodies On Display' (about a minute) one of the best songs on the entire CD. Aggressive parts alternate with very violent slowdowns in pure Old School Style on which two different vocal tones intertwine, a piercing scream (which I prefer) and a very deep growl that is greatly highlighted by the production. 'Collection Of Butchery' is not an anachronistic work, it is just a concentrate of what Brutal Death Metal is—simple and direct but already free from the influences of Thrash: anyone wanting a well-played album, composed of twelve good songs out of twelve, should dive in with open arms, while those who want to be picky and prefer something more modern can give it a listen, but I doubt they will be more than slightly fascinated.

In every musical genre, there are those who continue the tradition and those who go on an exploration: while the latter, risking everything, can win a lot, the former bet little and usually don't lose much. Occasionally someone wins something, and Putrid Pile are proof of it.