Album Review: Secreted - Intoxicated Primitive Anthropophagus
Reviewed by Rick Daniel Phipps
Two man international death metal project Secreted formed in 2021 with the goal of producing the most brutal “caveman” slam possible. The project made up of Rich Fahringer who handles all instruments and Luke Talbot on vocals will see the release of their debut full length Intoxicated Primitive Anthropophagus in February via Canada’s CDN Records.
Secreted have a very simple sound, now simple can be a double edged sword and in some instances simplicity is code for boring, uninspiring material but Intoxicated Primitive Anthropophagus is anything but. For starters it has an absolutely savage guitar sound, it's big, it's nasty and when those guitars hit it sounds like the apocalypse is coming in audio form. With slam being very heavily focused on grooves and with it's the single popularity the style is growing with new bands by the year you are seeing an influx of very bland material with no real flow to it and I don't get this from this record. All of the songs have really great and strong riffs which create a really devastating rhythm for this record.
Topping up this barbaric onslaught is some absolutely monstrous vocals, including a number of guest vocalists who feature on a number of tracks on the record including members of bands such as Kraanium and Condemned to name just two. The drums which are programmed are done really nicely, you can never replace a real person on the kit but you can ensure a great result if done correctly and these definitely are, they are quite simple but they compliment the riffs very nicely. The most refreshing and enjoyable part of this record is Secreted have written a collection of fun songs. I am as guilty as anyone that I take death metal extremely seriously but releases like this prove that you can write fun death metal and not be a joke.
Intoxicated Primitive Anthropophagus is a massive slab of guttural brutal death metal. It's big, it's ugly and it will perfectly meet all your primitive knuckle dragging death metal needs.
