Rockfreaks.net

Goreaphobia

Mortal Repulsion

Written by: AB on 25/12/2009 00:39:24

Here's a real Christmas gift from your favourite Rockfreaks.net reviewer - A "Satan Claws" B in honour of the season - a review of a true underground death metal debut from a cult death metal band. Goreaphobia has been around for 21 years and have just released their debut full length, having only a handful of demos and singles under their names besides the new "Mortal Repulsion". Over the years, Goreaphobia has had many many band members come and go, and has shared band members with a literal "who's who" of dark American death metal bands, such as Incantation, Immolation, Funerus, Disciples of Mockery and many many more. Funnily enough, Goreaphobia themselves deal in dark brutal death metal (who would've guessed?).

With band references like these, it's easy to compare Goreaphobia with some of their peers. Like most of the mentioned bands, they play a mid-tempo branch of death metal, but obviously sprinkled with the occasional faster, blasting parts, as well as the (a bit more numerous) slower, doomy bits. Not as utterly crushing as Disciples of Mockery or Incantation, not as doomy or dark as Funebrarum, not as otherworldly as Drowned, and not as twisted as Immolation, Goreaphobia nonetheless manages to impress me greatly with "Mortal Repulsion", because they've managed to make dark, evil death metal - groovy. Yes, I'm pretty sure everybody out there belonging just a little bit to metaldom will nod their heads, smile, and tip their feet in accordance to this. Obviously, this is not the Pantera of crushing death metal, and there is plenty of darkness to scare nonbelievers and fans of false metal away, but listen to the title track and tell me if it isn't awesome! Still, my favourite bits of "Mortal Repulsion" are the evil, evil slower songs, such as the skin crawl-inducing "Despised and Ruined" or 8 minute dark mammoth "The Inevitable Punishment/Faded Into Ends part 2".

"Mortal Repulsion" is a real grower, mostly because one inevitably compares it to more well known, more extreme acts, such as those I've already mentioned. However, when one starts to really pay attention, there is a lot of great bits scattered around, though they are often more subtle than the unadulterated brutality and extremity of Goreaphobia's peers. All in all, this is an album that is greater than the sum of its parts, because, while it is still hugely conservative, and doesn't offer any new things to this niche of death metal, it manages to take some of the best parts of the other bands of the scene, and stir it together nicely. After the first listen of "Mortal Repulsion", which to me was rather anonymous, with repeated listens, it has managed to crawl up and place it self firmly in my Top 10 of the year list (though undeniably in the lower end - while it is great it doesn't top the genius we've seen from other extreme acts this year). Recommended.

Download: Despised and Ruined, Mortal Repulsion
For the fans of: Incantation, Disciples of Mockery, Drowned
Listen: Myspace

Release date 17.08.2009
Ibex Moon Records