ONCE in awhile, a band comes along and simply forces the listeners to drop whatever they are doing and just engage in a bout of spontaneous hair swirling. One such band is Rotpit. Formed in Sweden in 2019, the three piece outfit make an almighty racket that is redolent of late 80s death metal.
Rotpit has been making significant waves in the global underground scene as the first two albums received rave reviews, from fans of the genre and critics alike. Golem of Rot is the latest single to assault listener’s eardrums and picks up directly where the last album Long Live the Rot let off.
The influence of early progenitors such as Obituary and Cannibal Corpse loom large as Rotpit regurgitate the thick, swampy sound that was beloved by those Floridan pioneers. It is just non-stop riffage that is designed purely to get those cranium muscles moving with the tempo never dropping below fast and furious.
The production is almost treacle-like as the band attempts to make listeners feel as if they are trapped in quicksand while being relentlessly pummeled on the head with a sledgehammer.
Rotpit stretch the “rot” theme to the nth degree, making all their releases extremely fun. Aside from this latest single, examples include Night of the Ultimate Rot, Rottenness and We Rot. Obviously not to be taken seriously, Rotpit’s forte is mining old school death metal for inspiration and producing no-frills, straight up death metal.
No flashy stuff here as solos are kept to a minimum to allow the song to just gallop through its paces with minimal distractions. Like a gore-drenched horror film, this is the aural equivalent of Fright Night. Nothing original but hugely entertaining in its own way.
All together now – all hail the mighty Rotpit!
