Review: Trog ‘Horrors Beyond’

New Jersey death metallers Trog are a band I have kept a close eye on since they were Troglorot and released their Cave Dweller demo in 2019. I loved that OSDM sound that pummelled you relentlessly, and their follow up EP Of Vomit Reborn was just as inspiring. But now the band have released their full-length debut, entitled Horrors Beyond, and now it is time to see if all that foundational work has led to something worthy of bursting out of the crowd.

If you enjoyed their previous two releases, particularly Of Vomit Reborn, then you will find a lot to like straight away in opener Deluge Of Skulls. A rabid, raging old school death metal assault that punches well above its weight and leaves nothing alive in its wake.

You would expect Trog to pull from the Obituary/Autopsy direction of old school death, but to be honest, it feels like they have more in common with early Cannibal Corpse, albeit with a hefty Scandinavian influence too. A mix of ugly chainsaw guitar tones, an incessant groove and plenty of thrashy early Death makes appearances throughout, like in the slavering rage of The Void, but there are also some surprises as well, such as the oddly black metal-esque melodic guitar lines of that same track.

A mix of ugly chainsaw guitar tones, an incessant groove and plenty of thrashy early Death makes appearances throughout…

There’s an eerie progressive tone to Eviscerate The Advanced, which combines some latter Death-like guitar lines with cavernous, guttural brutality. The whole album gives me a vibe of 1987 Chuck Schuldiner meeting 1995 Chuck Schuldiner in a Swedish marshland and writing riffs together while Cannibal Corpse offered advice. That sounds like an utterly chaotic description but tell me that tracks like Interstellar Offal Dealer don’t give you a similar feeling. The absolute pinnacle of this is closer Ontological Shock, which veers from pummelling death metal into something bigger and more epic. Is this a sliver of a future idea coming to pass early? Perhaps…

Wreck that neck over another release of caveman brutality from Trog, as Horrors Beyond carve out a real old school death metal sound, infused with plenty of thrash elements and knuckle dragging heaviness too. But they haven’t just gone the one dimensional route; Trog have evolved their sound with plenty of interesting elements to keep you engrossed in their work. Is it still old school death metal in nature? Yes, but like all good old school death metal, their work is infused with a sense of adventure and free spirit. Horrors Beyond is probably one of the year’s more intriguing releases.

Label: Frozen Screams Imprint
Band Links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Scribed by: Sandy Williamson