This is the second album from US death metallers Cordyceps.
I enjoyed 2020’s Betrayal, so another dose of brutal death metal heaviness from Cordyceps is well-received. This time it comes in the form of Hell Inside; 44 minutes of carnage, from a a band that haven’t stood still with their sound.
I’m initially struck by the album’s length; it has one less song than its predecessor, but is 12 minutes longer. Alongside this has come a stylistic upgrade. Cordyceps have an almost entirely new lineup since Betrayal, (including a member of Noctambulist), which has possibly impacted upon this. Regardless of how it has occurred, I very much like Cordyceps 2.0.
Hell Inside is dark and murderous. This is death metal that aims to destroy. It is, however, an evolved predator compared to what came before. Cordyceps have progressed their sound into something far more malignant and nasty, while still being utterly, mercilessly brutal. It’s not a complete departure for the band, but it is a next step that strides confidently forward.
One of the developments that has happened since Betrayal is that Hell Inside makes greater use of atmospheric and black metal elements. The former are typically deployed as augmentations across the record at key points, whereas the blackened influences can be felt in some of the music’s darker, more malevolent moments. To accommodate this, the technicality has taken a backseat, becoming less overt and more insidious. Underpinning everything though is the sheer wanton brutality, driven by a love of crushing heaviness and slamming death metal ferocity.
Almost everything on Hell Inside is hard, cold, and efficient. Even the vocals are harder this time around, seemingly shaped from granite into vaguely human sounds that are blunt and icy. Don’t be deceived though, as Hell Inside beats with the heart of a daemonic furnace, powering the music with emotive weight that belies the fact that it’s covered in frost and bedecked with rime-covered skulls. The singer has put his all into his brutal performance, and the music as a whole has achieved that rare combination of inhuman mechanised butchery and emotive dynamics that I always associate with the first Norma Jean album. A different style to be sure, but that’s high praise to my mind.
Well, I wasn’t expecting a new Cordyceps album to be this strong. The music’s mix of influences has resulted in a record that’s very satisfying and enjoyable. Yes, it’s probably too long for an album as intense as this is, but it’s hard to complain too much when the material is as good as it is. It should effortlessly carve itself a blackened home alongside offerings by bands such as Beneath the Massacre, Devourment, and Relics of Humanity.
Very, very good stuff here from Cordyceps. Do not miss out on this if you like your brutality harsh, unforgiving, and grim.
Wonderbox Metal 