I find myself growing pickier and pickier when it comes to Death Metal as I get older. The genre has, undoubtedly, produced more than its share of classic releases: Altars of Madness, Onward to Golgotha, Close to a World Below and None So Vile are where my preferences lie. I will never be able to get into the over-produced, sterile exercises in musical masturbation that make up a lot of the modern Death Metal scene, however.
Luckily, I don’t have to clear that hurdle with Hegemony’s Enthroned by Persecution. Available April 24th on Hell’s Headbangers, it’s a raw, bludgeoning, filthy mess of an album that manages to be a breath of fresh air while simultaneously calling back to genre greats in a manner that isn’t just flat-out aping the source material.