Filth are a death metal band from Sweden and this is their debut album.
Time to Rot contains 29 minutes of utter Filth. Sorry, this stuff writes itself. This is nasty, stinking, decaying, old-school death metal, and Filth know what they are doing with the style.
Time to Rot offers up a putrescent platter of gruesome heaviness, focusing mainly on mid-paced grooves to crush the listener in waves of gore and disgust. It’s raw and grim, which only bolsters its power and impact. There’s a death/doom influence, but the band also deal in some vicious blast beats when they want to.
The songs rumble and bludgeon their way through their running time, belligerently battering anyone and anything aside with their brutal, threatening ways. Filth have riffs and know how to use them. Time to Rot wields guitars like weapons, ably supported by drums that hit hard and growls that are dark and menacing. The bass also warrants a mention though, as it’s actually used as a key instrument in its own right in places.
Time to Rot is ferocious and malevolent. It has a malignant feel that’s downright unhealthy, yet Filth peel off the riffs and subject you to such a battering that you can’t help but keep returning for more. Alongside this, Filth are also able to give off the sort of fetid macabre atmospheres that should have you running as far, far away as fast as you can, but you don’t. Why? Because this is Class A death metal, weaponised and virulent, and you know you want more of it. These atmospheric aspects are especially potent when the band unleash spectral synths and eerie melody, like they do at the climax of the top tier title track. This is one of many ways that each of the six songs have in differentiating themselves from each other, displaying their own personalities, while still fitting seamlessly in with the whole.
You see, the interesting thing about Filth is that they are not content to just be another cloned old-school death metal band. Yes of course, this is not a style that allows for much in the way of innovation or reinvention, but within the stylistic restrictions of the OSDM framework, Filth exhibit many good ideas and creative flourishes across Time to Rot. The malefic depths of album closer Emaciated is another strong example of Filth going the extra mile with their worldbuilding.
These six songs are well-written, and boast more strengths than many larger and more established ostensibly similar bands typically can. The music’s brutality is enriched with rusty hooks and rotten atmosphere, and it’s delivered by a band that have apparently nailed their sound down early. I can’t wait to see where they go from here. For now, Filth have made a strong first impression with Time to Rot.
Very highly recommended for fans of bands such as Coffins, Corpsessed, Cruciamentum, Decrepisy, Incantation, Mortiferum, Necrot, Phrenelith, etc.
Wonderbox Metal 