ACCURSED WOMB – Hymns of Blasphemous Fornication

Essentially a compilation of earlier outputs, featuring the Crown of Piss and Prison Coward EP’s, plus two Promo Demo’s from 2023 and 2026, the album’s track listing jumps forth and back over the chronology of these releases. The earlier recordings sound like rituals of demonical fervour and fierce barbarity that feel primitive, raw, and reminiscent of 90's death-doom. And with the mid-to-later works, the production values the aggressive blackened styles as the content becomes uglier and more unhinged with a slighter abstract approach into heavier riffs and mangled song structures.

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As the band’s sound and style progresses, the intensity of the guitars and bass goes from almost a thrashy death approach to more distorted and frostier dissonances. Similarly, the drums evolve into blasty double-timings as compared to the snappier cymbal and snare beatings on the earlier recordings. With a harsh crusty style, the vocalist employs deep guttural roars throughout all these tracks that suitably follows the bands trajectory of morbid befoulment and stench flavoured decay.

Invocation of the Necrovat kicks off with its high tempo riffages and slowed chorus breakdowns which paint the scenes for Womb of the Ibex and a grim metronomic assault and battery of Nordic coldness. Wasp Bone – Vocal Test proved to be a repeat favourite that channels an Abscess-ala-Nunslaughter ferocity with a little tupa-tupa action thrown in, as is Crown of Piss with its mephitic violations directed at those who give their audience. Whereas the bestial Grotesque Sermons of the Disembodied courses a nine-minute opus of doomed sonic violence that traversing various fast-slow passages into a noise infused abyss.

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With notable influences ranging from Cryptopsy, Goatlord, Incantation, and Morbid Angel, the overall constructs have similar invocations of derangement as found with Dragged Into Sunlight, Impetigo, Revenge or Timeghoul. A truly rampant display of perverse derelict horror and comical gore, Hymns of Blasphemous Fornications is a ceremony of cult level appeal. 

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SCORE 9/10

Reviewed by glennosp