It’s not that Vitriol don’t love death metal, or death metal fans. Quite the opposite: the Portland trio are specifically interested in bringing a renewed sense of fury into the music they care about so dearly. On their debut LP To Bathe From The Throat Of Cowardice, the band have created a sound that is both technical and atmospheric, sonically ambitious while utterly stygian. For some modern tech-death fans, this approach might feel humorless — but for many fans of the genre, the stone-faced odium on To Bathe… is a refreshing return to the genre’s essence. This isn’t metal for those looking to smoke weed and crack jokes about corpse paint, it’s sonic relief for those nursing a serious misanthropy. “It’s just a human exper...
