Laceration – I Erode

Bay Area thrash/death metal quartet Laceration have launched their sophomore full-length entitled I Erode. It comes three years after the release of their debut LP, Demise from 2021. Despite of the fact that this is only their second full-length, these guys are no novices to the scene. Thus, Laceration was originally formed in 2006, but due to many years of disbanding, different EP releases, compilations and reunions, the veteran band was finally ready to release their debut Demise in 2021. It promised good things, and luckily we didn’t have to wait another 15 years to hear new stuff from this hard-hitting Bay Area combo.

I Erode is packed with some merciless riffs, menacing shreddy and tastefully fleshripping solos, a coarse growling vocals, savage tempos, thrashy crunch and mid-paced breaks. It opens with this short mood-setting intro “Degradation”, while “Excised” is the proper opener and much more representative of the band’s trademark sound. It’s a blasting and hummering sonic assault with some death metal riffs, fnatic drumming and grusome growls. The good old times (read late 80s and early 90s!) keep coming on the fast, furious and technically impressive third track, “Sadistic Enthrallment”. This tune really grabs the listener’s attention and is probably the best written song on the entire record. “Sadistic Enthrallment” is the next strong song, full of hyperactive thrash blasts, and with one of the most punishing finishing moves on any song on this album. “Vile Incarnate” is another highlight for me, mostly due to thrashing guitar riffs and wicked solos. It’s ‘the most standard death track’ on the album, but it’s just what one would search for and expect to hear on a death metal record?! The next, interludium track, is called “Dreams of the Formless” and like the opening “Degradation” it helps setting the tone of the record and its most key scenes. Thus, both instrumentals provide a much needed break in between otherwise pure shot of aggressive and addictive death metal. “Carcerality” is brutal track that has this nice flow of classic thrash rhythm and biting tremolo, while “Strangled by Hatred” is one of the faster, chunkier riff-driven songs on the album. “Impaling Sorrow” is only two-minute long song of relentlessly jagged guitar lines and some groove-heavy chugging. The album self-titled destructive six-minute closure “I Erode” brings that last-round of varied death metal with cohesive songwriting.

The album was recorded at ‘Dark Corner Studios’ and produced by Exhumed legend Matt Harvey. Furthermore, it’s been mixed and mastered by Greg Wilkinson at ‘Earhammer Studios’. It resulted in this raw and old-school sound/vibe, while still sounding professionally recorded where the balance between a more modern sound to 90’s rawness is perfectly achieved, making it a true pleasure to listen to. Finally, James Bousema is the man responsible for the sick album artwork, again very representative of the sound one can hear on I Erode.

To sum it up; I Erode is a nostalgia trip, a throwback to a distinctive death metal sound, with tons of well-crafted and nasty elements of thrash metal. Laceration is definitely not reinventing the wheel, but I Erode is Laceration’s most assured and viscious material to date and as such highly recommended for fans of Malevolent Creation, Morbid Angel, Asphyx, Skeletal Remains, Pestilence, Demolition Hammer, Morgoth etc.

For further info on this neck-breaking nine-tracker album go to https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/i-erode