Oakland-based outfit Extremity burst onto the death metal scene last year with a purulent EP, Extremely Fucking Dead, which would have been top of my records of the year list if Sentinel Daily editor Scott Adams allowed anything other than full-length releases anywhere near his precious charts…

Still, they are back with a fully-fledged, ‘proper’ record this year and I defy anyone to stop me putting it in my list, because It’s an absolute ripper of a record.

Tracks like the coruscating Grave Mistake break no new ground whatsoever, but the black wind of foetid excess that they force out of the stereo speakers will delight anyone with a penchant for filthy, febrile death metal. For that’s all Extremity bring to the table; there’s no obsession with technique, no surrender of guts to the clinical and finicky. Just pounding heavy metal from start to finish. Just how we like it.

Opening track A Million Witches sees the band at their most accessible (a relative term, you understand), but it’s classic stuff like Umbilicus and Occision where they hit hardest. Gutteral, unforgiving vocals pummelling percussion and staccato riffage take it in turns to molest the listener, ramping up the mayhem until the carnage is tangible. It’s unholy, it reeks of all that is wrong with mankind… I fucking love it.

There’s plenty of room in the world for hyper technique, of course, but every once in a while the accumulation of grease and filth under the dermis that only occurs when you come into records like this is a joy to bear willingly and thankfully. For Want of A Nail perhaps sums this band up in microcosm; grinding riffs give way to unhinged, dissonant soloing that’ll have fans of Morbid Angel salivating, the whole juddering juggernaut careering along on the edge of insanity in irresistible fashion. But don’t rely on my words – have a listen for yourself. You’ll realise Extremity is a perfect design for living.


Coffin Birth is out now on 20 Buck Spin.