Twitch of the Death Nerve - A Resting Place for the Wrathful

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Slamming Brutal Death Metal is quickly becoming one of my favorite genres, I’ve binged a lot of classic or highly regarded albums lately, and just this year I’ve reviewed two Brutal Death bands already. TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE’s sophomore album “A Resting Place for the Wrathful” is my third one so far – and I don’t feel like I’m done with this sub-genre. TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE is a three-piece from London, they were formed in 2004 and they’ve debuted in 2014, but they’ve only started playing live last year. Their debut was released by Comatose Music, just as “A Resting Place for the Wrathful,” and was very well received.

The band’s sound is really nasty and brutal, but the songs are also full of dynamic shifts. They move between blisteringly fast parts with fast picking SUFFOCATION-y riffs, medium tempo parts with chuggy, groovy riffs and slower, atmospheric sections with an ominous, oppressive vibe. In other words, the band has something from SUFFOCATION or Californian Brutal-Tech Death but also from cavemanish slam like DEVOURMENT. Actually I think a comparison to DEVOURMENT’s latest albums (one of my favorites last year) is not inapt because of the more complex songwriting on both albums. There are similarities in the vocal delivery, which are very rhythmic and impactful: in one part of “Ochlocratic Prostration,” for example, there is a vocal line with triplets (it reminds one of some rap flows). The vocals are super guttural and gnarly sounding, kind of like Ruben Rosas’ really. Songs like “The Sickening Frailty” shifts between blistering speed and catchy grooves, the atmospheric parts give the song some space to breathe so that the whole song has a really nice ebb and flow. “A Witness to Ruination,” which is in the middle of the album, has a plodding, atmospheric opening section with deranged sampled monologue, which takes up almost a half of the entire song. Withing the context of the whole album it serves as a sort of interlude – a pause before another onslaught unhinged brutality. The whole album is rather on the short side – the eight songs have a total play time of 27 minutes – and it feels very cohesive. This is also reinforced by the interludes with vocal samples which give the album a thematic thread (obviously it’s all about madness and mayhem).

TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE’s latest effort is filthy in your face but also sharp and focused. It’s just a really good Death Metal with high replay value, and one can imagine that this totally rips live. I’ve enjoyed this release a lot and so far it’s one of my favorite Death Metal releases this year. If you like this style, don’t miss this.

Songwriting: 8
Memorability: 7
Musicianship: 8
Production: 8