Sanctuarium – Melted and Decomposed (Review)

This is the second album from Spanish death metal band Sanctuarium.

Sanctuarium play rotten old death metal with a crushing dose of fetid doom. Melted and Decomposed contains 48 minutes of foul death/doom nastiness spread over five tracks.

I’m only really aware of Sanctuarium thanks to their split with Jade that comes out a week after this is released, (keep an eye out for the review). Because of the two songs that the band contributed to that release, I learned of Melted and Decomposed‘s existence and felt compelled to check it out. I’m glad I did too, (and you wouldn’t be reading this if I’d have been disappointed).

Melted and Decomposed offers up a convincing display of malignant power. Sanctuarium’s death metal is grim, evil, and drenched in doom. It’s the sort of decaying underground death/doom style that sounds like an otherworldly entity has escaped from the abyss and is currently haunting your nightmares with a horror born from your darkest dreads. Bands like Autopsy and Incantation may be suitably obvious starting points for approaching Sanctuarium’s unholy miasma, but you’ll soon find that Melted and Decomposed has a stench of its own making.

Sanctuarium appear to have crawled out of the underworld in search of flesh to hungrily devour. After all that effort it would be churlish to deny them, so succumb to their feverish bite and sink into the murk of Melted and Decomposed. It may be revolting and abhorrent, but it’s also good old-fashioned disgusting fun.

Highly recommended for fans of old-school death and doom unpleasantness.