ALBUM REVIEW: Vitriol – To Bathe from the Throat of Cowardice


Yeah, this sounds fucked upcoming from me the advocate of all things Death Metal, loud and slamming drums, but young extreme bands need to learn when to hold them and when to fold them. There are many moments of technical brilliance – leads and solos in particular – to be found in Vitriol’s To Bathe from the Throat of Cowardice (Century Media Records), but they tend to get lost in a monochromatic cement sea.

There’s too much triggered double kicks, one-note growls and not enough memorable riffs to go around on slabs like ‘The Parting of a Neck’ and ‘Legacy of Contempt.’ Or more like there could be some great riffage down below but it’s hard to know since this sounds like it was mixed and mastered by Lars Ulrich as in what we get are drums and vocals straight to the face and no bassist in sight. I get it, with a name like Vitriol I don’t expect a frolic through the park but fuck all I’m getting is hammer meets anvil, while angry words get tossed around with reckless abandon and Henry Rollins is somewhere in the back fucking furiously on the floor. I keep yelling because I have nitrous oxide coursing through my veins, hail Satan and I just put my fist through the drywall.

Interestingly enough the best moments in To Bathe from the Throat of Cowardice are to be found in the longer bits like ‘The Rope Calls You Brother’ and ‘Pain Will Define Their Death.’ Call me crazy, but I have a hunch is that these extended run times allow for Kyle Rasmussen and Mike Ashton to flex some of that guitar muscle before the woodchipper vocals devour everything in sight.

Vitriol has genuine chops but expect some punishment before you get there.

6 / 10

HANS LOPEZ