Corpsing - Regnum album review

A decade on from the release of their second album, The Stench Of Humanity, Corpsing emerge unsullied by either modern death metal’s overtly clinical urges or the arty posturing of the atmospheric DM contingent. Unapologetic in their embracing of both primitive brutality and the concise sonic impact of artfully produced extremity, the Londoners take the otherworldly pomp of Domination-era Morbid Angel and the churning horror of latter-day Immolation and transport them into an infernal hall of mirrors. The result is a pitch-black and almost comically warped take on the classic death metal formula that hasn’t been expressed with this much swivel-eyed fervour since Akercocke released Choronzon in 2003. Extra points are awarded for almost implausibly guttural vocals that ooze through cracks in Wisdom Of The Serpent’s flailing, discordant façade, and for the maniacally juvenile onslaught that brings Cunt to its grim denouement. The elegiac twinkling of Divna points to an expanded sonic palette that’ll hopefully blossom next time around, while a closing cover of Emperor’s Ye Entrancemperium gives the original a gleeful back-hander to the knackers.