One of the more gloriously unpleasant names circulating in the death metal community (no mean feat in itself), Welsh death metal fanatics Sodomized Cadaver delight in the horror they inflict upon the unsuspecting. Thus far the band have released two EPs, 2014’s ‘Vorarephilia’ and 2016’s ‘Verses of putridity’, both of which are now handily combined into the double dose of sickness nattily entitled ‘Verses of Vorarephilia’, which offers up fourteen tracks of malevolent metal with triumphant glee.
A brief scene-setting piece, ‘Sodomized Intro’ is rather like cowering in your room, listening to a zombie attack take place next door, the horrifying screams and moans of the dying moving ever closer to your place of sanctuary. The band emerge to finish the job on the ferocious ‘Cannibal Butcher’, a lightning fast conflagration of razor-sharp riffing and incisive percussion. Ryan Howes’ vocals are a guttural nightmare, wretched up from his sternum and vomited onto the track, whilst Gavin Cadaver is a human metronome, relentlessly on point with his double kick work. Sub two-minutes in length, ‘Torture’ brings to mind the brutality of Aborted as it whips up a whirlwind of phlegm, only to offset it with a riff so sludgy, it drags the listener ever closer to the stygian depths of the hell in which it was wrought. ‘Tribunal Savagery’ is a longer piece, which gives Ryan time to deal out some nicely harmonised lead work (a glimpse at the talent that lies shrouded amidst the horror) before the band lock-step into a demonic groove destined to bang heads everywhere the track is unleashed. A quick dose of PCP and we’re back to the hyper-fast style employed on ‘torture’ for the instrumental track ‘visceral shredder’, a tumultuous song that sees Gavin threaten to spontaneously combust as his sticks disintegrate in his hands. However, we’re not out of the woods yet, and ‘weapons of mass decomposition’ is, if anything, faster than its forebear, as if the band were just working themselves up to this prurient finale. It leaves only the faux-choral ‘sodomized outro’ to bring the first half to a somewhat calming, if deeply sinister, end.
‘Verses of putridity’ sees a line-up shift with Ryan out the door (at least at this point, he’s once more in the band as guitarist) and Ray ‘Yeah Man’ Packer taking over on guitar, bass and vocals in his place. The overall sound is a little cleaner and tighter, with the guitars a touch higher in the mix than on the previous outing, but in other respects its business as usual. Eschewing any sort of introduction, the band plunge straight into the gruelling ‘Skull Fracture Massacre’. Ray has a wider vocal range than his predecessor, switching neatly from unearthly grunts to inhuman screams with ease and the songs benefit from his versatility. The charming ‘half dead burial’ is closer in feel to the first EP, Gavin doing his best to reduce his kit to a pile of molten chrome and wood shavings, only for the mid-paced ‘Martydom’ to take things to a darker place with a sludgy riff laying a foundation over which Ray growls the title repeatedly. A concept that is possibly best not dwelt upon to long, ‘vile intercourse’ is as putrid a track as the title suggests, all angular riffing and explosive double-kick work. However, just as you’re set for the song to simply hit you around the head until you succumb to the sweet mercy of unconsciousness, Ray unleashes a brief, blisteringly fast solo that jolts you back to life. ‘Vampire of Dusseldorf’ is a highlight with its palm-muted riffing and rhythmic vocals bringing the mighty Cannibal Corpse to mind only for ‘Rapid Guttural Disfigurment’ to hack and slash its way into the consciousness with casual savagery. It leaves only the mid-tempo trudge of ‘raped by ebola’ (a highlight from the band’s recent HRH Metal set) to see the EP out on a high with its sick subject matter, scabrous growls and dense, magisterial percussion.
Live, Sodomized Cadaver now features Gavin Davies and Ryan Howes (retained from the first EP) alongside Ollie Jones (vocals) and Charlie Rodgers (bass) and they’re currently working on a new release entitled ‘morbid tales of mutilation’. However, for those who caught their band on one of their recent live outings, this is the perfect opportunity to snatch up both of their EPs in one handy package, complete with new artwork and liner notes. The production (both EPs were recorded at Unit 13 Studios) is impressively vicious and overall this is a near-flawless package that comes highly recommended. Now go see the band live. 9
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