Album Review: Rancid Cadaver - Mortality Denied
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Sometimes our attention careens us back to the UK, and more specifically in this instance, Scotland. I’ve found some quality extreme metal come out of Scotland lately this next act appears to be no different. Formed out of Glasgow in 2021, Rancid Cadaver are a death metal act who got themselves adjusted to releasing material quickly, with their 2022 EP, Flesh Monstrosity, asserting the band’s necrotic take on horror firmly which was soon followed by another EP: 2024’s Mass Of Gore. Now prepped for a March 21st release date, the band are finally ready to show the world what the Scots are made of, with Mortally Denied set to be an independently released product. This is the band’s first full length work and thus, like myself, shall be many people’s first real exposure to them. What will the band bring to the table? This is slated to be one infectiously heavy piece, squirming with repugnant viscera primed to spew forth. Let us together pry open their coffin.
One thing that jumps at me is how their riffs don’t follow typical expectations. This is the kind of death metal where the band are pursuing a more heinous approach to their soundscape. Sure, the band’s soundscape is thick and crushing with atmosphere but their actual performance is surprisingly light; though we mustn’t think that just because they’re not caving our head in at every turn that this record is a lacklustre opus, because the production around their riffs reminds me of what the band Necrot have done in their own work: write and play riffs so they’ll run through your audience as opposed to rest atop them. Their guitar work is ripping and possesses this particularly serrated edge that helps complement this slicing, mulching aesthetic their riffs harness. It’s a form of songwriting that actually brings you closer to the record because you won’t feel so directly assailed by their crushing weight and, in doing so, leaves you at the mercy of their additional vocals, bass and drumming. As a result, the band’s guitar work is light as a feather though you espy the sheen of its blade, glistening in the darkness.
Rancid Cadaver, down to their name, have an especial fascination with the dead and all things necrological. Throughout the album you’ll hear nine tracks that go into detail about the dead, the fear they create and the horror one would expect should they be met with these undead masses. I appreciate however that the band don’t just use these undead hordes as some mere throwaway trope as is so often exploited in death metal, but really sought to emphasise just how terrible coming face to face with these things borne out of the natural world would be. Through their songwriting and pacing you get the idea that this is a threat to be taken seriously since the band, through this record, do so too. Many tracks herein are accompanied by an audio clip whether it be from old horror movies or minute keyboard, synthesiser pieces; these are brief and evidently intended to be such since any longer durations would remove us from the clear intent of the band’s purpose. You’ll find little humorous to be found amongst Rancid Cadaver’s inclusion of audio clips, they’re treating the undead with legitimate severity and its reflected in their performance. These things will absolutely kill you should their grasp fall upon your ill luck.
Further into the record I really came upon a Cannibal Corpse influence permeating Mortally Denied. This isn’t a record that seeks to race by and blister you with one rapid track after another. Though their tempo is happy to play at speed, raising the intensity of their performance, its obvious their preferred tempo is the steadier form whereby they have the opportunity to slow down, seep that dread in, and really allow us to bask in the odious miasma their atmosphere elicits. The band revel in this nightmare of their creation, especially as guitars hum with malice, weighted with cinderblock density, as that resonating sound grinds through every element the band otherwise throw at us. There are very few instances of soloing occurring here. The band aren’t seeking anything overtly superficial or painting their record as anything other than what you reckon its cover suggests it to be. The band harbour a wondrously evil glee towards their songwriting, as if they’re rejoicing over the sheer petrification individuals would surely find themselves in within these circumstances.
The drums are curious herein, for they are much tinnier and light to the strike as opposed to the vocal and guitar tracks, otherwise delivering massive slabs of strength no doubt bolstered by the bass. However the drums were likely required to be this way since a heavier, thicker drum presence may have conflicted with the riffs and thus inundated the record with an overabundance of power; we wouldn’t know where to look. Like the rest of the album, the drums are more than happy taking their time to convey its pieces to us and even when the record reaches its more ferocious segments you’ll find the drums rarely, if ever, approach blast beat territory. Mortally Denied therefore was written with old school sensibilities in mind for the tactical absence of more intensive techniques enables our attention to concentrate on what’s happening in the moment, without worrying about something else chipping in where we now have to take that extra thing into account. It also allows the drums to rise above that noxious din too for even when the vocals are at their most boisterous, and the riffs are rallying for war, that compact but unmistakeable strike can be identified through it all. Thus, the band’s tempo is never undefined for the drums, ever the instrument dictating speed, establishes it with ease.
In conclusion, Rancid Cadaver’s first full length outing is a great start and shows promise for their burgeoning metal career. The band’s focus is the undead and all features thereby surrounding it and though the dead, zombies, etc have been a mainstay in heavy metal since its earliest inception, you get the feeling that Rancid Cadaver are giving them the respect such baleful forces would be met with were their existences suddenly brought into reality. The band hardly reinvent the wheel yet that’s not something the band are bothered with since their atmosphere and performance will be more than enough to bring good swathes of fans over to their side. It surprises me to find Mortally Denied without a major record deal; one can only hope this album release gives someone somewhere a final confirmation ascertaining Rancid Cadaver’s necrotic qualities. It’s a work of extreme metal that brings the blade right down on you but that’s north were the band cease, as their motive isn’t just to stop at the sense or shoulders but to it right down and through your abdomen. As mentioned, the band bear resemblance to Necrot and the way they conduct their riffs and songwriting, I’m not complaining as it enables the band to mix up their album’s sound in more unique ways than most extreme metal acts would. Overall, this is an ideal debut full length work and has brought Glasgow’s Rancid Cadaver to my fullest attention.
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