Decrepit Altar | Egregious Defilement | Me Saco Un Ojo Records

Release Date: 21 November 2025

Format: 12" Vinyl/Digital

Genre: Death/Doom Metal

Country: Croatia

Decrepit Altar arrives from Croatia with a background tied to the underground, shaped by musicians who have spent years in the harsher corners of extreme metal. They formed the band with a simple intention, to channel death metal’s rot through the dragging pulse of doom, and their debut EP “Egregious Defilement” marks their first official step into the wider scene under the banner of Me Saco Un Ojo Records.

The moment “Egregious Defilement” begins, the guitars sink the listener straight into cold soil, heavy and grey, with a steady descent that suits the style they aim for. The sound has a grim atmosphere that spreads slowly and steadily, almost as if the band is pulling the listener deeper with every turn of the riffs. The distortion has a rough texture, not too smooth, not too chaotic, and the drum work moves with a strong, unhurried power that keeps the entire EP grounded in thick darkness.

The vocals are a major force here, delivered with a cavernous roar that rolls across the mix like damp air in a crypt. Nothing fancy, nothing theatrical, just a deep growl that sticks close to the tone of the music. The guitars often bend and warp in ways that give the songs a sickly tension, and every section arrives with a natural sense of decay, as if the band is dragging something rotten behind them but refusing to let it fall apart.

All three tracks contribute something slightly different in character, even though they remain tied to the same foul aesthetic. “The Festering Depths” stretches the band’s approach into long, suffocating passages with steady pressure. “Beckoning Of The Moss Ridden Tomb” brings a grim crawl with some surprisingly contagious riffing, and “Fields Of Flayed Skin” combines groove and misery in a way that grows more punishing as it moves forward. There is a sense of unity across the EP, nothing stitched together hastily, nothing thrown in without care, and each track supports the others in shaping a grim, rotting landscape.

The production leans toward the raw side, which suits the music’s swampy character. It lets the guitars ooze, the drums rumble low, and the vocals hover above the mix like a growl from a buried throat. The EP never aims to sound bright or overly refined, and that decision strengthens its atmosphere, giving the music a damp and heavy presence that suits this style of death doom perfectly.

Overall, “Egregious Defilement” is a promising debut that delivers on its intentions. It shows a band with a clear grasp of the rotten, earthbound side of death doom, and while it may not tower over the genre, it brings enough personality and grime to satisfy listeners who enjoy their metal slow, crushing and foul. Decrepit Altar steps into the scene with confidence and grit, and this EP suggests there is plenty of potential waiting to be unearthed in whatever they create next.

Score: 7.0

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