Vomitile is one of the funniest band names I've ever seen. Projectile of vomit, I suppose. This quartet hails from Nicosia, Cyprus and the name of their game is death metal, pure and simple like that (the band's name made me think about whether they were a grindcore act, more like). And there's no funny business going on here. Anyway, I noticed I got this sophomore full-length album in my collection, so this happened.

One of my main death metal frills are driving rhythms. One of the best examples of that trait is Bolt Thrower's tank-like advancement, which crushes any listener with its heaviness and perseverance. Vomitile have quite a bit of that going on on here, totally suitably when peeking at the album's title It can be mid-paced double kicks or faster, up to blasting. So, this doesn't make one feel like being covered is sludgy vomitiles and getting stuck...

The riffs are mostly aggressive and gore-dripping, somewhere in close vicinity of Krisiun, Malevolent Creation and Cannibal Corpse. There's some groovier stuff here, too, conjuring the name of Jungle Rot in my mind. But the important question is, that is any riffs here on the level of the best from them aforementioned bands? No, not quite, but there's still some goodies to savor. Majority of them just feel familiar. There's straight mutilation by the guitars, but also melodic designs. That mentioned, the songs include surprisingly melodious guitar soloing, which gives this album more life-lease due to throwing in something more that can be grasp. The band tend to do tempo changes a lot, but hardly over-stretch their songs; the 37-minute duration is good and does not inflict any combat fatigue.

The debut's rather annoying screaming vocals have changed to quality growling. It's not particularly low voice, but definitely rabid. It is a bit like Vader's Peter's lower vocals. The lyrics are very much typical death metal "poetry" about killers, wars and religions. Not the most shocking ones by a million miles, either.

The production job is okay on every level. The best trait of it is how every element is well audible in the mix. The bass guitar, toms and kick drums provide the lower frequencies, while the guitars are crunchy. The artwork looks so much better compared to the debut album (or the EP, for that matter). However, it might make someone think that this is some crypt-like eerie type metal of death, which is what one will not find when listening to this music.

I feel like having some catching up to do later. In 2018 the band got their third album out, but since then it has been silent on the release front. Vomitile are still active, as they do seem to be playing gigs, but I think they need to put out something pretty soon if they do not want to be forgotten by many a death-head. 'Mastering the Art of Killing' is an adequate album throughout, but nothing new or exceptional.

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
12/15/2024 21:15