CONSCIOUS ROT
The Years In Disgust
(Ledo Takas Records)
67:20min

This is a 2nd instalment of the series "Lithuanian Metal. The Roots" started by Ledo Takas Records (first was DISSECTION’s "Dissected Tapes"). The idea is to present the best Lithuanian underground Metal bands from the first part of the 90s, when the scene was exploding with young, rotten talent, but mainly due to economical and other reasons most of the bands hadn’t gone past the demo stages. Nevertheless they had laid a strong foundation for the next crop of bands to follow and now those important demos for the first time are being presented on CD. So here we have CONSCIOUS ROT, a band from Vilnius, which released 5 demo / promo tapes between 1992 – 1994 and this deluxe CD includes two of them – "The Soil" (1994) and "Congenital Passivity" (1993). Now mind you, even though they’re referred as demo tapes, both were recorded at a professional studio, have a really unique take on Death / Grind Metal and especially "The Soil" sounds as a fully realized album, which was released on a pro-tape in 1994 by Fight Zone Productions from Spain and caused quite a stir in the underground circles back in the day. It contains 7 bowel ripping tracks, heavily influenced by NAPALM DEATH’s "Harmony Corruption", MORBID ANGEL’s "Blessed Are The Sick" and AUTOPSY’s "Mental Funeral". The demo has been remastered from original 2 inch tape, so the sound is thick, brutal, bass heavy and dripping with gore, pure analogue armageddon! It really differs from Sunlight / Morrisound productions which were prevalent at the times and offers a unique insight into Lithuanian underground circa 1993 / 1994. The songs are crammed with semi-technical riffs mutilating the listener, tempos are varied from fast to midpaced crawl and Juodas growls like a man undergoing a gut rearranging operation without anaesthetics while beating the shit out of his drums. There are even some bizzare experimental touches here and there, not unlike what PAN-THY-MONIUM were doing with saxophone on "Dawn Of Dreams". Even after 20 years "The Soil" stands out as an original and brain ploughing Death Metal release that will send necrotic shivers down your spine. Next we are bombarded with 8 tracks from the remastered "Congenital Passivity" demo, which is pure 90s NAPALM DEATH worship with different vocalist Latras and shows the more primitive and grinding side of CONCSIOUS ROT. The sound is much noisier, but tracks like ‘Psychic Vampire’, ‘The Worst’ or ‘Blessed To Die’ drip with unbridled disgust and controlled aggression. Highly detailed 24 page booklet written by the band’s mainman Juodas casts the light on the whole history of CONSCIOUS ROT and the band’s place in the Lithuanian underground at those times, making it not only a great release musically but also an interesting historic document. So head on to the Ledo Takas website http://ledotakas.net for some samples and see what you’ve missed back in 1994!

Mindaugas ‘Plix’ Lapinskas

Mindaugas 'Plix' Lapinskas

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