Altar Of Gore - Litanies of the Unceasing Agonies

Altar Of Gore is a death metal band from New Jersey who burst onto the scene with their 2017 demo, “New Jersey Metal Attack Vol. 2.”  “Litanies of the Unceasing Agonies,” is their second full-length album; they have also released two more splits, two demos, and a compilation.

“Litanies of the Unceasing Agonies,” is one of the nastiest and sickest albums I’ve heard all year.  Simply put, this is sick music for sick people and I’m right here for it.  The band’s moniker and cover art will tell you exactly what you get: 100% death metal.  The album is devoid of interludes, keys, ambient passages, clean vocals….this is nothing but dirty, nasty, litanies of rotten, moldy death.

The production is raw as a fresh corpse–it has a very live feel to it as if these decayed notes are being played right next to you.  With that being said, it isn’t the type of DIY production that makes it hard to listen or struggle to focus on any element of the instruments.  Actually, the production brings out the pain even more.  

The music often rides the line between brutal and groovy, allowing the music to pummel yet intricate enough that all the songs don’t blend together.  Thankfully, the disgusting guitar tone doesn’t block out the bass—it is just as essential.  The drums have a classic old school sound and even when they are blazing, their placement in the mix ensures that not even the fervent double bass takes up too much presence. 

The lead guitar, on occasion, supplies the atmosphere in what I can only assume is a form of melody—but it is every bit as caustic as the rest of the music.  The music isn’t dynamic so the melody offers very little respite—and that is just fine because this is a world of music that thrives in violence and knows exactly what makes the essence of the genre.   Here are a few of the highlights: 

The album opens with the aptly named “Introduction,” a short instrumental that leads perfectly into “Excoriation Prayers.”  This song is immediate and urgent with tight drums pushing the song into a short lead that, in turn, ramps up the energy even higher.  The death growls have just enough echo to them and they match the music for intensity.  The combination of this song and the intro make for quite the opening punch.

“Carrion Womb,” is one of my favorite songs on the album.  It displays a different side of the band, one of which is slower and more murky, at least in the beginning.  The middle portion of the song speeds up the tempo, offering a harrowing passage through mutilation.  The last part of the song brings it back to the slower tempo, the brutal music having plenty of time to sink in.

The title, and final, song of the album is the seven minute death dirge that caps off the album.  Whereas the first song was lighting fast, this one begins more doomy.  If anything, the slower approach makes the music even more impressive and dense.  The drums offer sudden bursts of speed throughout, ensuring the lumbering song never lingers for too long. 

Ultimately, if you don’t have an interest in death metal this isn’t going to change your mind.  However, if you do enjoy the genre (and why wouldn’t you?  Why are you reading this?) then it will be a reminder why the genre is so goddam uncompromising.