Rising from the fetid ghouls of the 1990s rancid death metal underbelly, Indiana’s malignant horde, Protrusion, unleash a near on perfect homage to those halcyon gruesome days. 

PROTRUSION

Though the name may be new to the ever expanding catalogue of putrid acts, its members have spent the last decade honing their repugnance across numerous other extreme metal bands such as Horrific Demise and Human Filleted. Their 2023 self-titled demo provided the foundation as every track from it has been re-forged into something focused, malevolent and putrefying.  

CONFINED TO ANGUISH

Let’s be honest, the global death metal scene is bursting at the seams, its rancid coffins overflowing with bands influenced by the genre’s pioneering architects. Protrusion are no exception yet the sonic abomination that gushes from this debut reeks of a band with considerably more years behind them. Opener Confined To Anguish begins with a brief insidious acoustic motif that seeps into the bones before erupting into a cavernous assault. Noticeably the production is suffocating, an asphyxiating, enveloping aura that enshrouds the listener where insanely low toning creates a sludge-ridden terror that coats every riff. 

DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING

One of the album’s most unexpected moments is Morbid Mortality which opens with a morose piano passage, courtesy of guest musician Brian Rush, which smoothly dissolves into borderline chaos. Its pacing is rooted in doom-death, yet threaded with wonderful riffs and hook soundbites that never compromise the brutality. Fundamentally the album echoes Suffocation like structuring with bludgeoning double-kick blasts welded to a swampy, lurching pace that permeates the release. Atmospherics play a crucial role in how this album stands heightening the nightmarish quality that is perfectly demonstrated on Exhumer’s Romance with its slow pulverising double-bass delivering seismic devastation. 

BOILED AT BIRTH

First single, Boiled At Birth, is longer and more elaborate than expected, driven by drummer Kevin Baum’s thunderous and technically sharp prowess. The chaotic streak resurfaces, as does the band’s knack for crafting razor sharp lead breaks, something this album is loaded with. It is unreservedly grisly stuff, steeped in down-tuned barbarity as Slugs Of Decadence stands as a punishing slab of earth shattering riffage and pungent vocals so subterranean they feel like an additional layer of bass rumbling beneath the mix. Comparisons are inevitable and while Suffocation forms the core of Protrusion’s sound Cannibal Corpse looms large particularly the groove ridden monstrousness that infects much of the album. Scorned Vengeance is a prime example; the blast beat onslaught gives way to an avalanche of double bass. Slower passages evoke Gallery Of Suicide era Cannibal Corpse, but rendered with an oppressive weight. 

THE LAST SUPPURATION

As the album approaches its final stretch, a short, almost cheerful interlude called Sacrament acts as a bridge to the penultimate title track. The Last Suppuration channels the spirit of early Finnish death metal – think Abhorrence circa 1991 – before exploding into an abyssal display of inhuman devastation from vocalist Colin Foster. The closing Anthropophilic Anomaly stretches beyond the seven minute mark allowing the album’s atmospherics to fester in unfettered repugnancy. Whilst the tolling church bell may be a tad clichéd it works well enough as the tracks sinks into an Obituary like crawl. As it progresses melodic guitar flourishes emerge – unexpected but executed with such grim finesse that they enhance rather than soften the brutality. 

For anyone craving the days when death metal was dangerous, ruthlessly barbaric and stench ridden, Protrusion’s debut raises the festering banner high across ten tracks of unerring ghastliness, proving themselves worthy heirs to the fetid legacy they so gleefully exhume.    

Protrusion: Bandcamp

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