Filthy Music Review from beyond the Grave - 'Cemetery Filth: Screams from the Catacombs'

Cemetery Filth – Screams from the Catacombs EP (2014)

White Ship Records/Unspeakable Axe

Review by Jude Felton

Way back at the dawn of time, January 2014 to be exact, in deepest, darkest Tennessee, Cemetery Filth were spawned. In the short time since then, aside from giving themselves the rather wonderful moniker, they have delivered this three track EP.

It was first released on digital and a very limited CD run, which has now long sold out, and now sees the light of day on cassette from Unspeakable Axe; themselves an excellent new label. This new cassette edition itself is limited to 200 copies, so I recommend snapping up a copy pretty sharpish, as when I last looked the band had just one copy left, and I can’t imagine Unspeakable Axe have too many left. Believe me, you want to grab a copy; I’ve already snagged one for myself and another for fellow Lair scribe, Trevor.

Anyway, with all that rambling out of the way, I should really tell you what you are getting on this three track EP. I’ll tell you what you’re getting, and that’s three absolutely terrific old school death metal tracks that will take you back to the early 90’s. Cemetery Filth, themselves, do not shy away from this fact, far from it, as they are completely upfront in sharing the fact that they play old school death metal.

Now, whilst there are a ton of new bands trying to emulate the sound of the old guard, I can honestly say that not very many have come close to the vibe that Cemetery Filth have. You can hear it dripping off every minute of this excellent EP. They have the sound, but they also have some great tunes as well, and the production, which is thick and oppressive, only serves to heighten the overall feel of the EP.

Quite honestly, this is a fucking superb EP and it’s one I should have reviewed awhile back. Mind you, when I first heard it, it was only available digitally, with the CD already sold out and the tape had yet to be released, and I like to review music you can physically get your hands on when at all possible. Digital is all good and well, but it looks shit on your shelf!

Alongside bands such as Necrowretch, Skelethal, God Disease and Sheol, Cemetery Filth is one of the best new death metal bands I’ve heard of late. The genre itself is on fire right now, with bands from all sub-genres of DM kicking out some great music, and there’s always room for another one. So, make room for Cemetery Filth in your collection, and keep your eyes open for the upcoming split album with Trench Rot, Sabbatory and Ectovoid, which will hit sometime in early 2015, once again from Unspeakable Axe.

Screams from the Catacombs is absolutely terrific, so be prepared to embrace the Filth!

9/10

Tracklist:

1. Screams from the Catacombs

2. Gateway among the Graves

3. Cemetery Filth

Screams from the Catacombs is available from Unspeakable Axe now.