August 20, 2009 | | 4

Goreaphobia, Mortal Repulsion

Goreaphobia: Mortal Repulsion

Having disbanded in 1993 after releasing a few splits and EPs, Goreaphobia hibernated through the dark days of death metal as the genre’s popularity waned and all but perished. Sixteen years later, this Philadelphia death metal monstrosity has seen fit to return to the surface from its resting place deep in the depths of Hell’s abyss — to deliver their brand of underground death metal like it was the early nineties all over again.

Musically, Mortal Repulsion thunders through 12 songs full of mid-tempo, thick death metal like no tomorrow. Thick, churning guitars layer atmosphere and vehemence across the album’s landscape while the drumming teeters on the precipice of barbaric bludgeonings. Vocally, Chris Gamble let’s his graveling, terrifying screams ebb and swell amongst the thick tones, only adding to the album’s ever growing sense of dread and horror.

Ordeal Of The Abyss
The opening song starts off with creative drumming as riffs build into a churning mass of thick tones. Gamble’s vocals echo a bit in an old school fashion that creates a darkness about them. The mid-tempo pace is perfect for the darker tones and beefy guitars — ramping up in speed to accentuate some huge screams. Man, this song is pure evil. There’s a rolling darkness feel to the track that will have you head banging along with the hellish tones. A sick lead ends the track.

Amulet Of Damnation
“Amulet Of Damnation” starts off slowly with decent riffs and light drums for the first 15 seconds before a big scream comes in and the guitars pick up a nice squeal. Layered screams add tremendous atmosphere and a feeling of evil to the opening minute. Once that minute passes, however, all hell breaks loose with galloping riffs, thundering drums and a deeper, more guttural vocal delivery that spits out vitriol and hatred. The series of leads at 1:50 are fucking sick as hell.

Negative Screams (Passage Intro)
Heavy atmospheric tones start this one off with desolate guitar picking as the track swells and builds. distant wails and screams accompany the dark atmosphere.

Grave Plagued Planet
After the three and a half minute interlude, Goreaphobia get back into the flow of things with this mid-tempo behemoth of a song. Thick guitars (with a subtle melody) push along the raspy, guttural vocals with a shit load of groove. The first break in the chugging pace is a sweet lead and huge scream at 1:48 that’s soon followed by more groove oriented, chugging riffage. Another huge scream ushers in a short lived evil lead just before the three minute mark.

Primal Nothingness
“Primal Nothingness” starts off with a bit of chaos in the form of pounding drums, churning guitars and a deep, echoing vocal delivery. The blast at :35 is burly as fuck and leads into a slick ass guitar solo. This is an aggressive song with plenty of bludgeoning rhythms, rabid vocals and dark, down-tuned guitars. The lead at 2:15 is unholy in nature and will surely sear a little epidermis.

Faded Into Ends (Part I)
Thick guitars get this next one off to a beefy start as slowly building drums accompany them. The short lived segue fades out after a minute.

Despised And Ruined
Reverb and evil guitars get “Despised and Ruined” off to a rumbling start, as Gable lets loose with a few demonic screams for good measure. This is a dark, slow moving track reminiscent of Celtic Frost in nature. This is a monolithic song that will slowly bury you six feet under with dense atmosphere and wretchedness.

Black Ash Eyes
After the initial guitar and drum work build up, the band gets into a massive groove with great a vocal pattern (which appears to be much more guttural in nature). The layered screams over top of everything else in this track give it a great feel and depth. I love the guitar tone to this song. An evil, warbling lead at 2:20 fits the overall nature of the song perfectly. The track ends with some massive, rolling drums and plenty of guitar reverb/noise.

A Grievous Curse
A brief scream gets “A Grievous Curse” off to a mid-tempo, thrashing start for the first 20 seconds or so before the band settle into another sweet groove. Tempo change-ups and frantic drumming punch holes in the groove here and there, but the overall flow the song remains intact with driving riffs and dark rhythms. A series of leads after the two minute mark are followed by a nice bit of technical melody that never gets bright enough to make the song sound anything other than bleak and desolate.

Ascending Into Vices
Satan himself must be on lead guitar as this next one gets off to a sick, thrashing start with raw vocals and pummeling drums. Hands down, this is a bad ass track that I’ve played far too many times, keeping me from wrapping up this review in a timely fashion. The tempo settles down a bit but never loses it’s punch. Be sure to check out the lead around 2:30 that’s integrated into the churning mass of darkness.

The Inevitable Punishment/Faded Into Ends (Part II)
Dark, thick guitars and a sick belch come in along with rolling drums as the vocals make their appearance. This is a somewhat smothered song, that sits more in the distance than the rest of the album. It’s got a weight to it that’s appreciated and at times overwhelming, especially as the uber thick bass comes in again around 1:25 with the riffs. The layered group shouts and screams after the three minute mark give the song an occult feel which works well with the bleaker tone.

Mortal Repulsion
The title track ends out the album, starting off with manic drum work and thrashing guitars. A huge scream ushers in rapid fire drums and sped up guitars that only let’s you know that the band has saved the best for last. This is an aggressive attack of pummeling drums and shredding riffs. The thundering groove that permeates this track is infectious and easy to get lost in.

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Favorite Tracks:
All of them

Additional Notes:
N/A