Rotheads |Unfazed By Death |Memento Mori (Demo, 10th anniversary official release)

Release Date January 26^th, 2026
Format Digital/CD
Genre Death/Doom Metal
Country Romania

Rotheads kicked off their existence in Bucharest back in late 2014. Before they started churning out full albums, the duo of Bogdan and Dávid laid down these tracks in a jazz rehearsal room at the Bucharest Music University between 2015 and 2016. Now, marking a full decade of decay, Memento Mori and Temniță Recs have dug up "Unfazed By Death" for an official release on CD and cassette. This is a chance to hear the band in their rawest form, long before they polished their blades.

The production here is exactly what you expect from a ten-year-old death metal demo. It sounds rough, abrasive, and totally unconcerned with modern standards. The guitars have a thick, jagged distortion that dominates the mix, while the drums sound distinctively organic. It lacks the punch of a big studio effort, but that is part of the charm. It captures the honest, scraping sound of two guys making noise because they have to.

Musically, this is pure worship of the old gods. Rotheads leans heavily into the doom side of death metal here. The riffs are slow, heavy, and repetitive in a way that induces a trance. You can hear heavy influences from bands like Autopsy and Asphyx. The tempo rarely picks up speed, preferring to drag the listener through the mud. Dávid’s vocals are deep and guttural, sitting right in the center of the noise. It is simple, effective, and heavy.

Since this is a look back at their start, the songwriting is a bit primitive compared to their later work. The ideas are there, but the execution is still finding its footing. Some sections wander a bit, and the variety is limited. However, for a first attempt, it sets the groundwork for everything that came later. It is a grim snapshot of a band just starting to rot. "Unfazed By Death" is a cool collectible for the dedicated fans. It has grit, it has riffs, and it has a rotten attitude. If you like your death metal stripped down to the bone, this is worth a spin.

Score: 7.0

 

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/rotheads/

https://www.instagram.com/rotheads/

https://www.youtube.com/@rotheads

https://rotheads.bandcamp.com/album/unfazed-by-death

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0IaUxf3CmYzeYNLKjvR6n0

https://www.bandsintown.com/a/10624839-rotheads

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/rotheads/dBrL

https://www.memento-mori.es/

Invictus (Japan) |Nocturnal Visions |Memento Mori/Me Saco Un Ojo

Release Date: January 26^th, 2026
Format: CD/ LP
Genre: Death Metal
Country: Japan

Invictus were formed in Nagano City in 2015 with a clear devotion to classic death metal foundations filtered through a sharp thrash metal drive. The band built its identity around riff dominance, grim atmosphere, and an old school mentality rooted in the early pillars of the genre. After the debut “The Catacombs Of Fear”, the Japanese outfit returns with its second full length, aiming to deepen its sound while staying loyal to its original path.

“Nocturnal Visions” presents a darker and more focused incarnation of Invictus. The album circles around heavily worked riffs and oppressive pacing, creating a suffocating environment that stays hostile throughout. The writing favors momentum and persistence, allowing the material to sink in gradually while maintaining a threatening edge. The overall presentation reflects a band that understands restraint as well as escalation, shaping songs that remain rooted in physical aggression.

The album’s character leans toward a raw and time worn death metal language, enriched by subtle shifts in rhythm and pacing. These changes keep the listening experience varied without distracting from the core intent. The atmosphere remains ominous and severe, reinforcing the record’s nocturnal identity. The production supports this vision with an earthy and forceful sound that emphasizes impact over polish.

Vocals occupy a deep and malignant register, reinforcing the album’s hostile presence and reinforcing the grim narrative that runs through the release. The performances across the album serve the material with discipline, allowing the songs to unfold with a steady sense of menace. The artwork by Juanjo Castellano complements the music perfectly, matching the album’s decayed and arcane aura.

“Nocturnal Visions” stands as a solid continuation of Invictus’ trajectory, delivering a grim and punishing death metal album grounded in tradition and executed with care. It rewards repeated listens through its atmosphere and riff construction, offering a cohesive experience that reflects the band’s dedication to the genre’s darker roots.

Score: 7.5

www.facebook.com/InvictusDeathMetal

www.memento-mori.es

www.facebook.com/memento.mori.label

www.mesacounojo.com

www.mesacounojo.bandcamp.com

www.facebook.com/mesacounojo.com

Malignant Aura |Where All Of Worth Comes To Wither |Memento Mori/Grindhead/Primitive Moth

Release Date: 26 January 2026

Format: CD/Vinyl/Digital

Genre: Doom/Death Metal

Country: Australia

Malignant Aura is an Australian doom death metal band formed in 2022. Emerging quickly from the underground, they gained attention with their debut album “Abysmal Misfortune Is Draped Upon Me” and a strong live presence alongside names like Esoteric and Mournful Congregation. Their sound balances crushing heaviness with sorrowful melody, rooted deeply in classic doom death traditions while speaking in a modern voice.

“Where All Of Worth Comes To Wither” is the second full length from Malignant Aura and it sharpens the band’s identity through a darker, more focused approach. The album unfolds as a bleak and oppressive journey, steeped in despair and emotional gravity. The writing stays patient and deliberate, allowing themes of loss, futility, and inner collapse to surface naturally. There is a strong sense of cohesion across the album, with every song contributing to a unified atmosphere of decay and solemn reflection.

The songwriting here is more condensed than on the debut, with fewer tracks and a tighter overall runtime. This decision gives the album a stronger forward pull and keeps the experience intense without drifting. The death metal side of the band’s sound comes across more prominently, adding bite and aggression to the slow moving doom foundation. The balance between brutality and melancholy is carefully maintained, giving the material a grim persistence that never slips into excess.

Vocals sit deep in the mix, reinforcing the album’s oppressive tone and reinforcing the themes of despair and spiritual erosion. Riffs unfold patiently, often circling back on themselves, creating a hypnotic effect that draws the listener further down. The pacing remains heavy and deliberate throughout, allowing tension to build steadily across the album’s runtime. The overall sound feels raw and physical, reinforcing the album’s bleak worldview.

Visually, the album artwork by Paolo Girardi fits perfectly with the music’s suffocating atmosphere, amplifying the sense of dread before a single note is heard. “Where All Of Worth Comes To Wither” presents Malignant Aura as a band refining its voice through restraint and focus. It is a grim, immersive listen that reinforces their place in the modern doom death landscape.

Score: 7.8

www.facebook.com/malignantaura

www.memento-mori.es

www.facebook.com/memento.mori.label

www.facebook.com/grindheadrecords

www.grindheadrecords.bandcamp.com

www.primitivemoth.bandcamp.com

Thaumaturgy | Pestilential Hymns | Memento Mori

 

Release Date: 20 October 2025
Format: CD
Country: USA

Thaumaturgy rose from the American Midwest in 2021, initially as the vision of the mysterious KT, whose goal was to create extreme music steeped in darkness, violence, and atmosphere. The band’s first release, “Charnel Gnosis”, introduced their cavernous take on death-doom, while the debut full-length “Tenebrous Oblations” two years later expanded that approach into a suffocating display of underground power. Now a trio with TG and DS completing the lineup, Thaumaturgy continue their trajectory with their second album, “Pestilential Hymns”, released by Memento Mori. The album, finds the band leaning further into death metal aggression while retaining a sense of suffocating weight and blackened intensity.

“Pestilential Hymns” is an uncompromising plunge into darkened death metal that manages to balance sheer violence with passages of looming heaviness. Across its eight tracks, the album swings between frantic speed and crushing dirges, creating chaos.

“Neuroticism Triumphant” opens with blistering energy, establishing the savage intent that runs throughout the album. That drive continues into “The Oncologist’s Hymn” and “The Shadow Approaches,” where riffs twist and hammer in relentless succession, the drumming pressing forward with mechanical endurance. “Plague Ritual” and “Awaken Ares” stretch the sound into longer forms, combining aggression with monumental doom possession collapsing the floor beneath you. “Forced March” closes the album in dominating fury, its length used to pile on riff after riff until everything caves in.

The vocal performance is one of the defining traits here, a pained roar that carries the intensity of Martin van Drunen at his most frenzied. Rather than being buried under the instrumental storm, the vocals act as an additional weapon, cutting through the chaotic wall of riffs and drums. Occasionally, faint synth layers seep in, giving certain passages an otherworldly shimmer without disrupting the brutality.

Production-wise, “Pestilential Hymns” avoids over-saturation while maintaining raw heaviness. The guitars churn with cavernous depth, the bass remains thick in the background, and the drums cut with harsh precision. The mix grants the album a suffocating presence, amplifying the violence without sanding down its jagged edges.

Thaumaturgy has created a chaos that is punishing, atmospheric, and memorable in equal measure. “Pestilential Hymns” captures the essence of underground death metal while injecting just enough variety to keep the assault gripping across its 45 minutes.

Score: 8.0

thaumaturgy.bandcamp.com

www.memento-mori.es

www.facebook.com/memento.mori.label

https://www.instagram.com/thaumaturgy_official/

Morbific | Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh | Memento Mori/Me Saco Un Ojo Records

 

Morbific is a festering trio from Kitee, Finland, formed in 2020 by Olli (guitars), Jusa (vocals/bass), and Onni (drums). From their earliest offering, the “Pestilent Hordes” demo, it was clear the group was intent on channeling the grotesque spirit of death metal's most rancid forebears. Inspired by acts like Autopsy, Rottrevore, Mortician, Grave, Undergang, and early Finnish cults like Funebre and Disgrace, Morbific emerged as modern standard-bearers for bloated, slime-encrusted death. Their 2021 debut “Ominous Seep Of Putridity,” and 2022's “Squirm Beyond The Mortal Realm” built a rep for unhinged songwriting wrapped in sewage-thick tones. Now, three years on from their origins, “Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh” arrives via Memento Mori (CD), Me Saco Un Ojo (vinyl), and Headsplit Records (tape), confirming their place in the deeper catacombs of death metal filth.

“Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh” finds Morbific expanding their stench-drenched sound without abandoning the primitive core that made their first two albums fan favorites. The production here is sharper but not sterile—still reeking of decay, just more clearly articulated. The bass tone alone is a swollen, fetid presence, pulsing beneath riffs that sound carved out of disease. Guitars grind, churn, and scrape across tracks with a diseased sense of momentum, dragging the listener through cryptic grooves and writhing structures.

The album’s pacing is intentional, balancing slow-motion cadaver-crawl passages with eruptions of blasting filth. It never becomes predictable or disjointed; instead, it wallows in its own decomposition, the band always aware of when to contract or expand their sonic rot. There’s a logic to their madness here that wasn't always as developed in earlier outings. That doesn’t mean the music is refined—it remains saturated in grotesque textures and freakish phrasing—but there’s a sharper instinct for structure.

Vocals retch and growl with a putrid clarity that doesn’t detract from their grotesque nature. Rather than sitting on top of the mix, they are embedded in it, adding to the swampy, suffocating feel. There’s no sense of forced extremity here—Morbific operates from a place of genuine revulsion. Even as tempos vary from lurching to frenzied, there’s always a rotten cohesion behind it.

The album’s closing stretch—from the massive “From Inanimate Dormancy” through the title track “Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh (A Travesty Of Human Anatomy)” and final crawl “Slithering Decay”—feels like a ceremonial procession through cadaverous realms, finishing the experience in a state of collapse rather than climax. It’s a smart sequencing choice, one that seals the album in its own dank atmosphere.

Rather than reinvent their approach, Morbific refine it here. “Bloom Of The Abnormal Flesh” is vile, ugly death metal done by those who understand its internal logic. This isn’t a band trying to ride a wave; they’re festering in the corner, growing stranger and stronger with each discharge.

Score: 7.0

Insineratehymn | Irreverence Of The Divine | Memento Mori/Rotted Life

 

 Insineratehymn hail from Los Angeles and have been a steady force in the underground death metal scene, weaving together influences from across the genre’s darkest legacy. Their style is grounded firmly in the early-to-mid 1990s with audible traces of Deicide, Monstrosity, Sadistic Intent, Grave, and Demigod, while also flirting with the occasional dissonant menace popularized around the turn of the millennium. Formed with a singular devotion to the raw essence of death metal, the band takes pride in assembling compositions that feel authentic, venomous, and deeply rooted in genre tradition. Their 2022 release, “Disembodied,” brought them further recognition among purveyors of true death metal, but it’s with “Irreverence Of The Divine” that the band reaches a more sharpened and hellbound incarnation of their sound.

“Irreverence Of The Divine” is a deliberately hostile and atmospheric death metal album that understands its source material without treating it like a template. From the opening “Revelations…” acoustic passage to the final ringing hellscape of “Empyrean Desolation”, this album constructs a convincingly infernal world through tight pacing, thick production, and blasphemous energy. It channels early Florida morbidity, Nordic doom-laced riffing, and New York’s bruising stomp without sounding derivative or stitched together. Each track contributes to an arc that is as much about mood as it is about the violence of the riff.

Vocals are commanding and cavernous, rarely straying from an agonized growl that remains intelligible enough to carry its weight. Riffs are composed with thought—there's neither excess nor hesitation—and the drumming is relentless without ever overtaking the atmosphere. The dual guitar work frequently includes slow, tremolo-picked sequences that exude dread, erupting into grinding mid-paced grooves or sudden blasts. What makes the album work is its consistency: the sound is always locked in, with every transition reinforcing the overarching malignancy.

The album feels naturally sequenced. Whether it’s the surging punishment of “Cosmic Abominations” or the mid-tempo crush of “Mephitic Anamnesis”, the tracks complement one another and create the sense of a descent, a spiritual collapse. Solos on tracks like “Delusive Omniscience” and “Covenant Of The Virtuous” are melodic but tastefully buried within the mix—never ornamental, always spectral. There’s no moment that reaches for unnecessary grandeur. It is content to remain within its defined limits—hostile, focused, and grim—and that makes it more enduring than many of its peers.

The production feels like a proper extension of the music. It’s dreary but not impenetrable, thick but not overly compressed, allowing each element to coexist without sacrificing weight or clarity. The cover artwork by Edgar Roldan encapsulates the album’s theme: desecration, theological corruption, and divine mockery, visualized in baroque infernal imagery fitting for this kind of death metal.

Without feeling bloated or minimal, “Irreverence Of The Divine” is precisely the kind of release that appeals to listeners who want their death metal unrepentant, grim, and without gimmick. It neither reinvents anything nor attempts to. Its only concern is delivering death metal in the truest sense—as a vessel for darkness, decay, and ritual destruction. It fulfills that purpose with precision and sincerity.

Score: 8.0