When a band's song titles have included
"Gagged, Shagged, Bodybagged," "Bed 'Em, Behead 'Em," "Zombie Graveyard Rape Bonanza," "Can't Fit Her Limbs in the Fridge," and
"Stab Me Till I Cum," it is safe to make two assumptions: (1) the band's members have seen way too many bad horror movies, and (2) they come from the
Carcass/
Cannibal Corpse/
Necrophagia/
Macabre school of shock value. Lyrically,
A New Dawn for the Dead owes a lot to the American and British
death metal and
grindcore bands that came out of the late '80s and early '90s -- and like
Carcass'
Symphonies of Sickness or
Cannibal Corpse's
Butchered at Birth, this 2005 release is delivered in a very satirical, tongue-in-cheek fashion.
Gorerotted's material simply oozes with irony. And yet, it would be a mistake to think of
A New Dawn for the Dead as an exact replica of old-school
grindcore. Rather, this gorefest is best described as a goofy
death metal/black metal mixture (more
death metal than
black metal) that thrives on
grindcore's over the top horror imagery, and the British band is highly entertaining if one isn't offended by sick humor. Conceptually,
A New Dawn for the Dead is a throwback to a time before
death metal/black metal was dominated by Scandinavian bands -- and while many of the Nordic outfits that emerged in the '90s and 2000s take their interest in dark subject matter quite seriously,
Gorerotted is an exercise in pure entertainment value. Extreme
metal is definitely an acquired taste, but those who still listen to
Cannibal Corpse,
Carcass,
Necrophagia,
Macabre, and
Cancer religiously will find a lot to like about this very twisted album. ~ Alex Henderson
