ROTTREVORE, Disembodied  (2005, Necroharmonic)

The skull:
This is an appealing piece of skull art, rendered in a semi-Seagrave kind of style, as if the acid Dan took that day was weaker than his usual dose. This isn’t Seagrave at all, as far as I know, but there are some stylistic similarities. Not so much in the skull, but certainly those horn-like, tentacle-ish, large intestine-esque things have a Seagrave sort of flair to them. They’re so cool and trippy that I lose all focus on the skull, who sits there amidst all this stuff going “Hey, what about me???” And he is worth a look, especially those teeth. Might wanna slap a gold grill on those choppers.

The music:
I have always loved Rottrevore at a distance. Their commitment to being the heaviest of the heaviest death metal is appreciated, and I like them a song at a time, but they get dull rather quickly. You have to marvel at the obscene guitar/bass sounds, which combine to resemble a big-ass tractor engine. “Actions for Loss” is a prime example of their approach (and a highly unusual song title for an English-speaking death metal band), as is the entirety of their Copulation of the Virtuous and Vicious 7″. Those songs and more are all here on Disembodied, a collection of demo, EP and compilation tracks from the good old days (early 1990s). I applaud how ridiculously heavy these guys are, and I probably should have picked up this compilation when it was released, because it’s nowhere to be found these days. That way I could live with my decision to sell my Copulation 7″ years ago. I kind of regret that now, because Disembodied is sounding really good at the moment. Oh, wait, I just got bored with them again.
— Friar Wagner