Review: Rotpit ‘Long Live The Rot’
I have listened and discussed an awful lot of out-there progressive/technical death metal this year and don’t get me wrong, that is something I get a lot of joy out of, however, sometimes you need to wallow in some rotting filth and innards whose visceral stench would capsize the hardiest of humanity.
This brings me swiftly to Long Live The Rot from Swedish/German death metal horde Rotpit whom revel in all things rotting and grotesque and is brought to you on November 29th by German label War Anthem Records on all your favourite physical formats!
Featuring current and former members of Heads Of The Dead, Wombbath, Just Before Dawn, Human Harvest and Revel In Flesh, Rotpit are no slouches when it comes to producing quality and most of all thematically rotting death. This trio last graced our ear canals in April of 2023, with Let There Be Rot, also released by War Anthem Records, which was a crushing exercise in carnage that wasn’t afraid to keep things rough and fun. With it only being a year and a half since this full-length, have Rotpit brought anything more to the mortuary slab for us to pick over and enjoy?
Well first things first, the crushing filth and fun is still there in all its gory glory, but Long Live The Rot is noticeably more structured and thought out, there’s way more quality in here and believe me that’s not a bad thing! It’s thicker/crustier and more suffocating ready to stove your head in with a rusty shovel without remorse, just listen to that riff towards the closing of Sewer Rot – hyper infectious and all killer!
All hail the lords of the rot, Rotpit came, Rotpit conquered and left me smelling worse than a bloated two-week-old corpse…
What Rotpit do well on here is creating hooky catchy death that is impossible not to be drawn in by. Massive Maggot Storm perfectly encapsulates this with its whirlwind of filth it spews upon us. Vocalist Ralf Hauber shines on the whole record but the chorus on Eat Or Be Eaten is my highlight from him on this record – ‘EAT OR BE EATEN, ALIVE!!’.
Also a shout out to Jonny Pettersson for the sheer abundance of riffs on here and for his production job which sounds just perfect for a record like this. My last shout out is to Erik Barthold for pummelling all listeners into mush with his performance behind the kit, the whole trio do a killer job on here.
If you dig bands like Autopsy, Undergang, Grave, Fetid or Ossuary then you’ll definitly want to listen to this. All hail the lords of the rot, Rotpit came, Rotpit conquered and left me smelling worse than a bloated two-week-old corpse. Time for me to take a shower and then hit play again! Go check this beast out and blast your ears to bits.
Label: War Anthem Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Matt Alexander
