Lord, bless this cess! Out of left field, from the old laundry-detergent sump behind the abandoned meatpacking emporium, come the horrible sounds of Finland’s Azatoth. Lurking around the worst corners of the Finnish death scene since 2020, Azatoth finally unleashes their full-length debut on a not-so-innocent world. With a team of well-traveled vets involved, what does Carnal Lust of Blasphemy offer a death metal fan besides the most cut-and-paste title possible? In short, it serves up a nasty bit of retro, caveman death and grind with distasteful blacked edges. Moreover, it gives nothing back to the academic community and provides no public service of any kind. It’s disgusting, repellent shit with reeking bits of Autopsy, Morbid Angel, and Undergang clinging to the unwashed carcASS of their musical abomination. Are you ready to disimpact? Here it comes!
Opener “Flooding Human Remains” is everything one could want from an excessive serving of greasy death biscuits. The speed is unsafe, the vocals belch from the deepest depths of the human pus center, and the drumming is berserk enough to shake your fillings out. In other words, it’s a fucking glorious rip-ride as it stumbles from early 90s death into grind and back again. The vocals are so damn moist and viscous, you can feel yourself slipping on them as you try to comprehend the insane guitar pyrotechnics destabilizing your brain. Oh, and there are whammy dives! “Veins of Rotten Blood” is more of the same unhealthy ear abuse with the right blend of aggression, insanity, and unpleasantness. The vocals are almost comical in their over-the-topitude, and goddamn, those riffs and solos are labyrinthine but so hooky, festooned with jagged pinch harmonics. Yeah, this shit is pinchy.
The first 18 minutes of Carnal Lust of Blasphemy offer some of the best death metal I’ve heard in a while, and I want 5 hours of the same shitfun. “Abomination of the Underworld” lurches from face-blasting aggression to doomy digressions, and even teases with vague hints of Death right as they begin transitioning from caveman to prog circa Human. For bonus points, they toss in some classy James Murphy-esque solos, and they hit the nostalgia nerve hard. There are some minor stumbles along the blasphemy path, however. “Sulfuric Paths to Agony” is a meaty hot pocket of death excess interwoven with doomy and ritualistic bits. It’s good but doesn’t hit as hard as the early numbers, and at 6 minutes it feels like it overstays its welcome. That leads right into a short moody interlude, and the combination of the two tracks tends to bog the album down a notch or two. Luckily, “Blasphemous Flesh” is a sick beast bent on regaining the momentum. It sounds like the bastard spawn of a sleazy hookup between Incantation and Morbid Angel after it was raised by honey badgers and meth heads till the age of 20. This is the shit I love, and boy howdy do they bring it good and hard. Also… whammy dives! The back third of the album is all killer and no filler, leaving you bruised, contused, and utterly amused. At a tight 39 minutes, there isn’t much fat on this rotten sack o’ guts. The production suits the material with a shock-and-awe sound that leaves room for slime and cave moss.
The vocals by Nuclear Lucifer are over-indulgent and grotesque. You can almost feel the throat coatings hit you in the face, and something in there is way more liquid than it should be. The croaking, grunting, and vomiting are all first-rate and convincing. The real stars of the show, though, are Chainsaw Gamache and Bogman Levo, who tear your entire skinsuit off with insane fretboard molestation. These boys can shred more than flesh, and at times their solos are jaw-droppingly insane. I hesitate to say they hit neo-classical levels, but they get close before returning to their murder riffs and brainsaw leads that slither and bite. I would be remiss not to mention the crazed drum performance by Godvomit Hämäläinen.1 The man has 6 arms, or else it’s all studio trickery. Either way, it’s a vulgar display of meat shower.
Azatoth may be an unknown name in death circles, but an album like Carnal Lust of Blasphemy is how one gets noticed fast. This is high-grade death metal with bells and whistles that never detract from the caveman and the cavern lifestyle. It’s short, nasty, and brutish, and that’s exactly what I need. Don’t let this one fly under your metal detector, people. This is the womit pile you want to fall in.2
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Extremely Rotten Productions
Websites: azatoth-fin.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/azatothband | instagram.com/azatothdm
Releases Worldwide: Augst 21st, 2026
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