Prolonging The Pain (Obsidian Records)

 “Prolonging The Pain” is the debut album of this Australian Brutal Death Metal act, even when this band was formed recently, members of Laceration Mantra have been active in the underground scene for more than a decade  in bands such Transfear, Misery and more recently The Dead… Laceration Mantra delivers at this album an ultra brutal form of old school Death Metal; crushing guitars fill this album from the beginning to the end creating a suffocating atmosphere of violence and obscurity, while the infernal voice of Rob Rieff preaches malevolence in its crudest form, using deep growls complemented by some abrasive dual vocals passages in the finest style of Deicide… The drum work is pummeling and devastating, moving basically over a mid paced double bass driven performance, Anthony Dwyer (who’s also the drummer of Misery) deals with different tempos and structures is an accurate and powerful manner. The bass work here is the perfect complement for such a brutal percussion, adding a huge sense of depth to this whole devastating proposal… There’s no much originality here, we have all heard this brutal formula before, but the viciousness and conviction shown at this record are certainly attributes we just can’t get enough off.  The album’s production is muscular and clear sounding enough for such destructive form of music, even when a better production will do no harm I must say have no complains about it… All the elements on this record are intelligently managed in order to create a powerful classic Death Metal piece, which features all the aspects that makes of a Death Metal album a great Death Metal album. “Prolonging The Pain” is an album that will easily thrill those into the classic and cruel sound of bands such Immolation, Deicide or Malevolent Creation, so if you are looking for senseless brutality and excuseless violence, this album will easily fulfill your expectations… (AP)