Sepsism – To Prevail in Disgust

Almost 4 years after their ‘Purulent Decomposition’ disc, Sepsism finally gave birth to a new chunk of Death Metal, their second full length to date. Biggest reasons for this long waiting time are probably the frustrating line-up changes but for sure the demise of their former label, Repulse Records in 2002. The Californians decided then to re-release themselves their second demo ‘Severe Carnal Butchery’, also reviewed in this magazine, and finally found the necessary support in the newborn label, From Beyond Productions.

The band has switched guitarists and one can hear it on level of compositions and soundwise. The blistering and rotten death-grind turned out slightly more technical and is played at a faster pace, which gives the whole album a more modern touch. I’m still wondering though if the quite unique, hammering sound of Sepsism really needed this but the band was luckily wise enough to mix the new influences in a subtle way.

‘To Prevail in Disgust’ however undoubtfully bears the Sepsism mark all over it, mainly because of the constant factors Fernando Avila (vocals) and drummer Phillip Hernandez, both founding members. I wrote it already before but if you discuss this band you just can’t get around those two. Hernandez is a superb Death Metal drummer, one that really adds a sickened, perverse and rotten feeling to the music with his well-chosen patterns. And the same goes for the deep, rotten grunts of Avila, highly amplifying the sheer brutality of Sepsism. As long as those two key factors remain a part of Sepsism, one doesn’t need to worry about nightmares as ‘your favorite band selling out’.

To conclude and also for fellow readers new to this band, one can say that Sepsism has succeeded yet again in producing a quality brutal death-grind album, based on a firm old-school sound infected with some more technical riffing. Let’s also hope that with the new album and a promising label, this long-lasting band will finally get the support it deserves.