Label - Blood Blast Distribution
Release Date - 5 March 2022
Words- Chris Fletcher
When a band is inspired by the Bigfoot legend, there should be no surprise at the size of their musical stomp. This is definitely true of Missouri death metal exponents Troglodyte and their fourth album ‘The Hierarchical Ecological Succession: Welcome to the Food Chain’, which is here to provide a satisfying onslaught of blast beats and riffs sure enough to wet any head banger’s appetite.
There’s no beating around the bush here as album opener ‘What’s Eating You’ roars out the traps; tight, bouncy snare, crushing riffs and all. In fact the snare tone is one of the major plus points on the record, and one that will have death metal fans the world over nodding their head in approval. The production job allows the real heft of the tracks to be felt without losing anything in the mix, and there’s no let up here as the aptly titled second track ‘Speed Kills’ lets you know exactly what you are in for.
So far so brutal as we reach ‘Sasquahsed’, where we are treated to a panic filled spoken word sample explaining how Bigfoot has been smoking crystal meth in the basement before masturbating all over the Christmas decorations. Whilst the unlucky fella in this recording has clearly lost control of the situation, Troglodyte manages to keep a tight grip on the chaos that ensues throughout this track and the record at large (the cry of “You’ve been Sasquahsed” is, in truth, a good summary for this experience as whole).
Following this is ‘Dyatlov,’ which shows the band mixing things up a bit with a slower, more doom laden style riff that’s heavier than the Hulk’s Boxing Day turd. A major issue that a lot of people have with this sort of brutal, straight ahead death metal is that it is hard to listen to for a sustained period of time. However the variation the band is able to display, coupled with the sub-thirty minute run time ensures that this remains an enjoyable beat down for its duration.
This album isn’t going to set the world alight and there isn’t anything revolutionary here, but what we do get is eight tracks of solid death metal displaying a real groove and swagger that will appeal to fans of Cannibal Corpse in particular, but also to any fun loving fans of the genre. We have a confirmed Bigfoot sighting, and it is one you don’t want to miss.
8/10.
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