Album Review: Sanguisugabogg - Hideous Aftermath
Reviewed by Sam Jones
I am so happy I caught this release. Sanguisugabogg have risen and only continued to rise as the years elapse and now, prepped to release their third album, Sanguisugabogg are back for Hideous Aftermath and what looks to be their darkest work to date. Formed in 2019 out of Ohio, United States, Sanguisugabogg have shot to success over a short time, as their Pornographic Seizures Demo blew the doors off and saw the band charge right into people’s psyches. Releasing their first album in 2021, Tortured Whole, and their following record, 2023’s Homicidal Ecstasy, showcased the band’s black humour as well as their capacity for crushing death metal that bared no apologies. But with 2025 on the close Sanguisugabogg’s Hideous Aftermath, sporting a visceral, flesh-strewn sculpture, suggests something darker, something more sinister, due out October 10th through Century Media Records once more. This record could be fascinating and I was more than ready to dive in.
I personally think Hideous Aftermath is the record where Sanguisugabogg have finally nailed their ideal tone. The band have always brought a crushing soundscape to their audiences yet I've sometimes felt their mixes could be somewhat unbalanced. Here though everything feels tightly woven, pulled together and thrust with gusto. The drums for instance still possess that tinny timbre that’s been applied across each of their past releases but here the acoustics have been seemingly reduced, lessening resonance of those strikes, shortening the time each strike resounds for, thus giving the drums additional impact since each drum track appears to carry far more weight. For the first time since their Demo, i feel like the band genuinely know what direction they want to move in; the band have already provided two great albums but Hideous Aftermath projects itself as the competent, murderous beast the band have rightly become. This record is the offspring of its predecessors; its telling how Sanguisugabogg have come together as a coherent unit and wrote a body of work that feels like they’re funnelling us down a single corridor of death as opposed to merely flinging ideas at a wall.
Sanguisugabogg have heavy riffs. Thats a given. Again, though the last two records have proved such, Hideous Aftermath drives that notion home with the greatest clarity the band have ever achieved on record. In a multitude of places their riffs are significantly slower which in turn slows their tempo down, not necessarily the pacing, for its always got momentum on its side, but the licks the band present are almost written in bold pen, bringing our attention ever to their presence. One could imagine the band theorising what to bring with this record, the answer being a unanimous decision to go even harder on their riffs. Sanguisugabogg have always been heavy but never have their riffs felt so dangerous, so locked on to target. When they bring you to certain moments in their songwriting, and particular emphasis is being brought to a section of riff, the atmosphere darkens, boiling, red with frenzied rage, elevating their already earthquaking performance to sickening, fissuring depths.
Speaking of the pacing though, that special focus they seem to infer towards their songwriting does wonders for the band since it makes each track noteworthy, where headbanging is the sole organic byproduct. The levels of destruction Sanguisugabogg have brought here is frightening; forget knuckle-dusters through the face, this is full-blown bulldozer-over-the-ball sack scaled punishment. I've enjoyed the band’s past works but their past efforts have never enraptured me as securely as Hideous Aftermath has and i believe its because the pacing is just a touch slower than they’ve conducted it before. They can write a three minute track yet they’ll hold my attention as if they’ve written something twice as long; whatever writing magic they’ve implemented is working, seemingly cutting out all else that wouldn’t, or hasn’t, been for the best for the band, leaving us with riffs the size of planets. It also aids Sanguisugabogg knowing their riffs can take on a extra degree of complexity yet still maintain their signature pummelling strength. More may be going on with particular riffs this time round yet that’s only amplified the unbridled insanity Hideous Aftermath purports; there are instances where the atmosphere grows so utterly obese you can’t help but drop your jaw in grotesque astonishment.
Understanding just how mountainous, how eclipsing the scope of these riffs are, its incredible how Devin Swank’s vocals manage to still push through the mire, delivering vocals where his cords bellow not only with control but also coherence. Granted its not a vocal performance where you’ll understand a thing but when you offset his vocals against the maniacal instrumentation, the mix becomes an increasingly remarkable thing. When those beautifully macabre segments come in, when the guitar tone reaches for the Mariana Trench, and the vocals drop to the gnarliest, most disgusting gutturals you’ll hear all year, as the bass drums come in with renewed vitality, it’s utterly sublime. The guitar tone and Swank’s vocals each complement one another, achieving a synergy where one is bolstered by the other and so on. Never have the vocals felt so vile, so viciously vulgar that their very existence rots produce and spawns maggots.
In conclusion, what Sanguisugabogg have pulled off with Hideous Aftermath is remove all the film and clouded residue that had hindered their sound from reaching its maximum potential, creating what is easily the standout record of their career. Tortured Whole and Homicidal Ecstasy are great releases in their own right, but Hideous Aftermath will shoot Sanguisugabogg ever more into the major leagues of the new wave of death metal. This record makes Cannibal Corpse and Deicide look soft by comparison, the sheer unfathomable weight these guys shift and make a reality in their songwriting has to be heard to be believed otherwise virgin listeners are just not going to comprehend how an album can be so destructively powerful. Whatever it is Sanguisugabogg have done, whether its in the mix or the writing, is the very thing they needed to do. Though their first two album releases were great, Hideous Aftermath finally brings the monstrous presence of Pornographic Seizures to full length scope. Should Sanguisugabogg maintain this, if this is the direction the band are undergoing as of now, they will have an incredible future ahead of them for Hideous Aftermath is their finest hour. A record so cosmically gargantuan that light itself is swallowed. Blessed be the ‘Bogg.
