Welcome to The Saw’s Butcher Shop! Ya girl is still combing through last year’s releases for new albums that got my attention, which we haven’t talked about, yet. A band that I played in The Chopping Block last year dropped a new, brutal record in 2022. The theme: A.I. has taken over the planet and is viciously killing all humans! Crushing riffs, screeching solos, and chest rattling gutterals is how the story is told!
A Brief History
Amputate released their sophomore full-length LP, Dawn of Annihilation on October 14, 2022 (Massacre Records), and it’s a banger. The band formed in the Fero District of Portugal in 2011, moving to Zurich, Switzerland a short time later. Amputate dropped a demo (2011), a couple E.P.s (2014/15), and a split album (2014) before releasing their debut album, Tortura Macabra (Massacre Records) in 2016. These were Gore based Death Metal offerings – like early Carcass and Autopsy – based on dark tongue-n-cheek humor. For their 2022 release, however, the band have left behind these topics and have dropped a seriously brutal album.
The 2022 Release
Dawn of Annihilation is a very solid record, with stop-on-a-dime signatures and riff-driven compositions of pure Death Metal. Most of the tracks feature the layered vocal attack of two voices alternating lines for effect (think early Deicide); usually deep gutterals, but also horse screams and screeches. The drumming is excellent – not over-the-top, but fast and creative. Guitar solos are soaring, speedy, and often dueling. Each song is distinct and stands alone.
The single, “Feeding on Thee” is a great example of what the band is doing throughout this album. Time changes, crushing riffs, harmonized filler, wicked double-bass work, and deep gutterals and screams. “When the Sun Turns Black” is an instrumental/guitar solo that reminds me of early Metal Church. “Buried by Ashes” is another instrumental (that closes-out the album) that puts me in the mind of older Death records, but crunchier and heavier. “Plague Upon Plague” is reminiscent of Immolation (the vocals sound like Dolan’s gutterals), with break-neck time changes and fillers. “Asphyxiation” is brutal, and one of my favorites. The drum cadence and overall feel of this track is a pounding! “Agonizing in Terror” follows suit, with wicked (Carcass-like) riffs and the layered vocal attack. “Conquering Thy Flesh” features an (early) Cannibal Corpse sounding riff before beating you senseless with madness. The title track is another great composition – a slower build-up turns into a vicious and brutal banger, with very interesting drum signatures and multiple time changes. The guitar work is some of the best on the album. This one is another of my favorites.
Amputate is:
- Riccardo Rossi – bass
- Max Grinder – drums
- Nuno Santos – guitar, backing vocals
- Filipe Guia – vocals
Dawn of Annihilation
- Plague Upon Plague
- Asphyxiation
- Feeding on Thee
- Agonizing in Terror
- Conquering Thy Flesh
- When the Sun Turns Black
- Dawn of Annihilation
- Buried by Ashes
Rating: 8/10! A solid Death Metal record! Great riffs and song structures!
Favorite Songs: Asphyxiation, Agonizing in Terror, Dawn of Annihilation
Stay Metal,
THE SAW
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