Album Review: Pyrexia – Gravitas Maximus
Reviewed by Daniel Phipps
When it comes to slamming brutal death metal Pyrexia are an institution within this field. One of the OG bands who were responsible for crafting this style of death metal, Pyrexia are still going strong and with a name that this year is spanning 3 decades within the death metal scene and 27 years since their classic debut Sermon of Mockery was released the New York act are ready to unleash a good old dose of slamming brutality which is sure to be crammed full of violent pounding aggression with the title of Gravitas Maximus.
Gravitas Maximus brings exactly what you want from a band with the rich history of Pyrexia. They deliver a dose of straight up punishing brutality, Pyrexia don’t hold back, and they come up with a straight up assault on to your ears, in which after hearing tracks like “Pawn to King” and “Bludgeoned by Deformity” you should consider making a police report for GBH. The tracks deliver a massive dose of pure ignorant face melting riffs and downright ugly slams. The grooves that Pyrexia deliver on Gravitas Maximus are downright lethal, the slam overload which features on the track “The Day the Earth Shook” will shake your speakers as the track simply attacks you from the start with its neck snapping aggression.
The bands last full length Unholy Requiem received some criticism based on its production (the songs themselves were solid) I can’t see those complaints resurfacing, the guitars are full of life, the drums sound rapid and the vocals just come out with a twisted violent rage.
Gravitas Maximus is a perfect example of bludgeoning slamming death metal. Pyrexia brings a pure display of ignorance, full of punishing riffs, intimidating vocal attack and pounding rhythm. I could definitely feel some NYHC feeling within the albums overall attitude, which really added to how the tracks come across. Gravitas Maximus is a record which new and old fans of the slam style will get behind in unison.
