Death/doom/grind ala Repulsion, Autopsy, old Incantation, Disciples Of Mockery, Rottrevore, Funebre, Dead Congregation and Necros Christos. Great production with a thick bass sound and over all cold/empty atmosphere.
SCAR 016: c-30/100 Copies. $7.00(US). $10(ELSEWHERE) Price is postpaid. ***ACCEPTING PAYPAL, MONEY ORDERS AND OR CASH. CONTACT FOR ORDERING INFO AND
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Blessed Offal package: 7.25 x 7.25 covers/insert housed in a 7'ep re-sealable bag. 1' logo pin. Mastered on pro manufactured and imprinted(chrome)black cassettes. Album repeats on both sides of the cassette.
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"What is my favorite dish? I really love lasagna, grilled meat and baked potatoes but men, if I have to pick the winner of my all time hit parade of epic meals, I have to go for fried offals. So, receiving a tape of a band called Blessed Offal touches my senses in a lot of very different ways. I don’t know if there’s a subtle meaning to their monicker, but this American trio managed to clash together two terms which have strong (and very different) meanings without making them sound ridicolous. Yeah, maybe thinking of a priest blessing a veal’s brain stew can sound a bit funny, but I think that the first word brings the esoteric aspect in, while the second one smashes it gore and disgusting pictures of purulent and decomposing pieces of flesh. And, well, I think that esoteric purulence is a good way to describe the music of Blessed Offal. They hail from Boston, but they are one of the farthest bands of local offering of hardcore. The music you’re gonna hear once you put this tape in your deck comes directly from the entrails of the Planet, the soft belly of the beast called Hell. I’m not a huge metal fan, but I totally love when it mixes with doom, creating that tomb stenching blend of extreme music that I can’t do anything but love. Blessed Offal is huge, is monumental, in a word : cyclopic. They are slow but unstoppable, you can say like lava going down the cliff of a vulcano, I’ll say like the tentacles of Chtulhu rising from his abyssal tomb. Riffing will strangle you slowly, reducing the amount of hoxygen going to your brain little by little, with its muddy and discomfortable way of crawling through the songs.
The classic influences on this band are pretty clear, you can drag them back to classics like Autopsy, Repulsion, Asphyx, early Amorphis but there’s also a bit of Cathedral’s Forest Of Equilibrium. Everything here stenches of early 90′s, with old school productions and a very cool taste in sound choice when it comes to solos. Fast facemelting notes will rip the tunes apart, making their way through the monolithic wall built by guitars, bass and drums. Vocal wise Blessed Offal sticks to a classic deep growl, which reeks of 91 like few other things. Reek. There’s a pretty good way to describe this tape. There’s almost an odorous feeling coming through these five songs. Like opening a tomb, or snorting a dacayed skull, or walking through a dying forest. I know these are pretty standard statements for a doom death band, but I think Bleesed Offal stands out with personality and GREAT taste in songwriting, creating a great mix of breathtaking slow tempos and groovy brainsplitting faster parts. There are awesome moments, like the soulless shrieks in the second half of An Unnatural Ending In Excrement or the solo during Ancient Realms Of Anti-Anthropocentrism or the amazing bass droning notes at the end of A Means To An End. When I listen to bands like this, the first feelings I can point out are death visions, pessimism, drowning and lack of reflexes, but with Blessed Offal I feel fatigue. Yeah, fatigue. I feel like a bunch of full iron balls are tied to my legs and arms, with a huge load on my back. Awesome. You like Coffins and Anatomia? You think that Dead by Autopsy is one of the best songs on Earth? You want to smash the face of the likes of Amon Amarth? Give Blessed Offal a listen and you can put again death in your Death Metal."
"Do you like your death metal grim and unforgiving? Then I think Blessed Offal might be the band for you. I have heard the name of this band muttered around the interwebs before but I never took the time out to actually listen to them until now. Holy shit, what was I thinking? These guys are dark, evil and punishing in their execution of death metal. Think Coffins meets Funebrarum to bastardize Incantation and you have the basis for Blessed Offal’s sound (in my opinion, of course).
I, for one am a huge fan of the new wave of old school death metal (or NWOOSDM) bands like Decrepitaph and the already stated Funebrarum so Blessed Offal fall upon wanting ears in my case. Relentless riffing, charging blast beat drumming and rough, guttural death growls make up the core of Blessed Offal’s sound. Throw in a few appropriate and very well executed solos and you have the band in an evil little nutshell.
On top of the band’s uncompromising brute force death metal fashion, a certain atmosphere hovers overhead instilling misanthropy and grimness. This is very present during the more dooming parts of tracks. These dooming sections bring to mind bands like Hooded Menace as well. The band has found a home in this bloggers cold heart and I hope that they will worm their way into yours as well."
"Old school death metal is back with a vengeance, and I personally couldn’t be happier about it. Someone’s got to stand up for the heavy shit, especially in the face of 2011′s djent invasion, deathcore’s stubborn insistence on existing, and tech death’s soulless fretboard gymnastics. Someone’s got to tune low, play mean, and offer up sacrifices to the twin altars of Onward to Golgotha and Mental Funeral. It may be a bit of a trend, but it’s the best ‘trend’ to come along in a good long while, so fuck it! Blessed Offal hail from Boston, MA, and have been kicking around since 2004. Conceived as Exsanguination, they changed their name a year or two after forming, and have since released a rehearsal demo and a self-titled EP, both reeking of putrefaction and decay. This backward-thinking quartet have clearly done their homework, and the result is as filthy and satisfying as anything that crawled out of the Florida swamps decades ago. A near-perfect cross between Hooded Menace’s creepy death/doom dirges and vintage Death, the formula they follow is indeed fatal to the flesh, and just unique enough to stand out. They’ve sure got all the right ingredients – knuckle-dragging tempos, a genuinely unsettling atmosphere, tasteful solos, sepulchral roars, thick, chunky slabs of death metal riffage, and a doomed outlook on the afterlife. Blessed are the sick."
"If you are feeling dramatic, you could say death metal has of late been dragged screaming through the mud (not in a metal way either) by the tech and slam metal that has replaced it in the minds of the general public. I’d say you should maybe relax a little, there are still plenty (PLENTY) of people out there that know if you can’t write a memorable song then you are pretty much sunk. Some of those people live in Boston. Some of THOSE people belong to Blessed Offal, who this month released their self-titled studio debut on Black Mass Records.
Like the best of the new-wave-old-school death metal bands, Blessed Offal pay homage to the greats without being terribly obvious about which greats in particular those are. Their tonality and melodic sense are pretty American, but the production reeks of that freshly-exhumed corpse sound trademarked by the Swedes. Tempos range from grind-fast to Disembowelment levels and everywhere in between, making this EP something like a 10 speed bike except no hipster would ever touch it. The seamless mix of styles plus a very compelling atmosphere of venom and bile reminds me of Dragged Into Sunlight’s Hatred For Mankind, reissued earlier this year on Prosthetic (an album so misanthropic it even hated genres). Of course throughout, Blessed Offal remain recognizably death metal.
A pretty singular sound coupled with excellent songwriting chops makes this a very good album by a promising band. Those worried for the future of death metal really have nothing to fear, plus let’s face it, there are much better reasons to be afraid nowadays. If you like headbanging and maybe riffs too, you should check out Blessed Offal’s bandcamp page, where you can download a free song or the entire EP for 5 Murkin dollars. If physical copies are more your thing, you should mosey on over to Black Mass Record’s website and order there."
"You have to admire labels that still release cassette tapes. I mean you see this here and there in Europe still, where some release on multiple formats including cassette, but cassette only releases in the US is unheard of. That is some pretty impressive dedication in my view. This label is run by Bill Connolly, who also ran a tape label back in the early to mid-90s. In fact, I ordered a couple comps he released and a cool demo tape he released by the band Moonburn back in like ‘93/94. I suppose for the most part this is an old mans game. I am not sure how many young metal fans even own a cd player, let alone something that will play cassettes haha! Being an old bastard, I not only have a large tape collection, but multiple sources to play them on. It brings me back to my tape trading days. Blessed Offal is a name I have heard around a bunch in recent years, but until now have not had the pleasure to experience. This band immediately makes me think of an old death/doom band I used to worship many moons ago that went by the name Disembowelment. Yet another influence for this band that I kneeled to the altar of is early Grave. It is a fine combination of immense death doom metal suffocation and hateful old school death metal in its finest form. The vocals are also in the Grave vein with some accompanying acidic higher accented vox. You also get some occasional great frenzied guitar soloing which works a lot better than you would think. What a great release and this is something I would suggest you under no circumstances pass up getting. This is for fans of Disembowelment, Grave, early Incantation and the like." – Dale
"Now this is a killer little demo, or EP rather. Blessed Offal are a Boston-area band who play guttural, sledgehammer-heavy Death Metal that draws a lot of influence from old Entombed and Dismember albums. These guys play heavy as fuck, but they aren't afraid to put in a lot of dynamic, speeding up here, sloooowing down here. The riffs are solid, the playing is tight, and the recording job is first rate. A band to watch."
"AMAZING CS EP from Massachusetts death/grind band Blessed Offal. None of the frills of some of the more recent death metal, this is straight ahead brutality, the way death metal is "meant" to be. The thick, pounding bass and percussion renders this one o the heaviest things I've heard this year; definitely the best death metal I've heard this year. Honestly, it's not even close. This is dark, cold and sometimes doom-y, and it gets my highest recommendation. I'm delighted to know these guys are playing in my vicinity this summer - I will definitely make it out to see them. Can't wait to hear more from this band."
"BLESSED OFFAL hails from Boston, USA and takes us, with this EP, into their darkened universe of heavy, and at places doomy, Death Metal. A juggernaut of an evil release with 5 tracks of relentless brutality. The Death Metal scene is on a rise, it's been quite some years since I've come across as many talented bands as I have the last six months - most of them excelling in good old brutal and dark Death Metal without too many modern treats and shenanigans. BLESSED OFFAL is also a purveyor in the oldschool vein, with their blend of grinding madness and doomy and eerie passages, with a dark and guttural growl from deep below, with both emotion, frustration and anger. We are getting thrown through the wall more than once, when the band changes pace from slow and almost droning to blasting and aggressive straight to your face Death Metal. The expression is intense all the way through the 5 tracks and it is hard to stop listening, when one first have entered the realm of BLESSED OFFAL. The band has some touches of the old Swedish Death Metal scene mixed with American Death Metal, though have made their own mark and distinctiveness. It is of course not original as such, it is Death Metal, though not many is or have been doing it as BLESSED OFFAL does it right now. When they go from intense and smashing moments to their atmospheric, heavy and dark as thunderclouds doomy passages, as they almost do in each song, the music and atmosphere become nothing less than jaw dropping. Just listen to the shifts in 'Seasons In Sepulchral Depths' and 'A Means To An End' and the majestic and ominous doom passage in 'Bottomless Grave', if such doesn't get you hooked on this band, nothing does, damn it's well made! Well the great melodic to raw guitar leads, the punishing drumming or the general good use of effective riffing and rumbling bass, could might also get a hook in you, when I think about it! The band has been going since 2004, first as EXSANGUINATION and later that year they changed name into BLESSED OFFAL and do only have one demo as the first, one as the latter and now this EP released, so be sure to pick it up before it is too late, as we can't be sure when we again will be hit with an attack from this monster of a band!"
Anders Peter Jørgensen(Voices From The Dark Side)
"Before I start the review I just want to get one thing out of the way… I don’t like the Name Blessed Offal. That’s probably what kept me from checking out this band the most. But I was told their stuff was right up my alley so I was willing to give it a shot. I am so glad I did because this album is killer. On my first listen it brought me back to high school, blasting Morbid Angel or Immolation on my shit box car’s stereo. From the opener “Bottomless Grave” you’re reminded of why Death Metal was awesome in the early 90′s and why it could be again. No slammy bullshit here. Just memorable songs, evil riffs, and blazing solos. It makes me want to crack open a beer and bang my head. I may have to actually leave my house to check out Blessed Offal live." Kevord(Obscenity Cult)
"If you’re gonna get your mouth ripped open by massive force until your jaw turns to dust while a titanic dick shoved down your throat chokes you until your skin sags and falls off the dick like a worthless used condom and then your asshole is the last bit to be flicked off of the pole, Blessed Offal is truly the band that’ll do it. I’m an oldschool death metal and doom death metal fanatic, but even this SOB has me shitting myself, it’s blistering, pummeling, raping, mutilating, and as filthy and hideous as the original bands but somehow rips you a different way this time around. Some stuff never gets stale, and crushing, brutal and vulgar is the unholy trinity for me. No time to bend over and grab your ankles here, the 12 minute brutal massacre of “Bottomless and Seasons” that serves as an appropriate opening for this album is a full blown “blitzkrieg” on all of your senses and will have you drawn and quartered, impaled, and decapitated before you realize your totally fucked. Brutal with classic control of rhythms, riffs, leads, solos, and an intense and brazenly evil atmosphere this thing reminds me of my first listening to Incantations “Onward to Golgotha”, it’s so evil and indescribably heavy, but the skill in song writing and the cohesion of the band makes this thing apocalyptically powerful!!!!! If that album still gives you the spins and the “Fight or Flight” mode kicks in, you HAVE to get this thing!!!!! Every death metal, warmonger metal head, and tyrannical lunatic must own this piece of audio violence, it’ll rape your ears and cum shit all over brain!!!! Everything here is classic, essential, and truly redefines brutal and slaughtering metal, you haven’t survived squat if you haven’t been mangled by Blessed Offal!!!!! I have a long list of amazing death metal right now in queue, including Dark Descent’s re-issue of the brutal Swedish band Uncanny and this one pulled me away from that one. It’s a cassette, but get it and look out for this bands upcoming release on Black Mass Records, some stuff just can’t be passed up.The vulgarity was totally called for here so no apologies there folks, it's as wicked as they come."
Janet Willis(Hellride Music)
Distro:
HELLS HEADBANGERS:
PSYCHEDOOMELIC RECORDS
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