Cardiac Arrest, Vortex of Violence

I’ll be the first to admit that I fucked up in not giving 2010’s Haven for the Insane more credit and publishing a review for the release. It was an album from Chicago’s Cardiac Arrest that always seemed to be in constant rotation in my play list. The band’s brand of death metal is grimy, raw and evil as hell — right in line with the shit I like to listen to. Thankfully, these murderous heathens have decided to grace/defile my ears once again with another slab of unrelenting aural skull fuckery. And now I can make amends.

Let’s get this right out in the open now. There is nothing pretty about the music on Vortex of Violence. It’s ugly. It’s mean. And it hates you with every once of its being. Cardiac Arrest are purveyors of non-filler death metal — you won’t find any wasted time or fluff in any of the blasting eleven tracks on their fourth full-length.

“Portal of the Damned” sets the tone immediately with a blistering pace chock full of distorted riffs, vicious barks and pile-driving drums. It’s a no-frills, straight to the cranium eruption of energetic death metal and it just whets the appetite for what’s to come. For standouts within this album filled to the unholy brim with crushing metal check out the completely unraveling delivery in “Relentless Pursuit,” the memorable riffs and barbaric groove of “Conjured Beings” (a favorite track for sure), the flesh searing title track or the infectious “Ritual Plague.” Be sure not to miss the down-tuned, sludgy “Depths of Despair” for a little something different. You know what, just listen to the whole damn album. You’ll like it.

Barbaric, gritty and nastier than a three-week old, festering wound, Vortex of Violence is one of those albums that may not garner any awards this year, but will surely be recognized for its throw-back aesthetic and abrasive delivery. I applaud Cardiac Arrest for their unyielding focus on playing death metal that is unstained by any pretentious trappings like metalcore breakdowns or symphonic keyboards. This is meat and fucking potatoes death metal. Like it, or get the hell out of the way.