Some bands are known for pushing the envelope; Lord Mantis have made their reputation by yanking it wide open and making the world look inside. The Chicago blackened sludge quartet manage to surprise and skeeve out listeners with every new release, courting a scathing, tormented sound that evokes images of bloating corpses and crime scene Polaroids. Now, three years after their last EP came out and five since they dropped their last studio album, the band have returned with a new full-length, Universal Death Church. The reason for the delay? “Well, maybe it’s because those years have been absolutely brutal?” says guitarist/vocalist Andrew Markuszewski. “I had an epic bickering with another member of the band, and another member who also happened to be my best friend offed himsel...