ESCARNIUM from Salvador, Brazil was formed back in 2007, and since then they have been playing brutal old school Death Metal in the vein of the legends. Despite a strong discography, ESCARNIUM didn’t receive great recognition, so for those unaware of their raw savage Death Metal, Redefining Darkness Records released “Godless Shrine Of Decay”, a colossal compilation of the band’s early works on one disc. It was originally released in 2015 and has been long out of print. Now it is available once again in a remastered format after all these years. It contains 16 tracks of over one hour of music: tracks 1,2 taken from the “Genocide Ritual” EP, track 3 (previously unreleased), tracks 4 – 10 taken from the “Excruciating Existence” album (Brazilian version), tracks 11, 12 taken from the “Rex Vermiform” EP and tracks 13 – 16 taken from their “Covered In Decadence” demo. And from the very beginning it’s a straight dive into the brutality – there is no soothing introduction, no soft and slow build-up, just a slap in the face with some ferocious old school riffing and punishing percussions. Besides, it’s solid, it’s clean and square, well executed and very consistent throughout the disc, both in terms of style and quality. Tracks such as ‘Excruciating Existence’, ‘Salvation Through Zyklon B’, ‘Nuclear Burial’, ‘Dark Clouds Above Hell’s Fire’ or ‘Slaves Of An Ending Fate’ will best convey that and ask for repeats. Even the demo tracks are well recorded, to the point that it’s hard to tell the difference with the production of the album. ‘Covered In Decadence’ has that raw savage and dominating atmosphere and this style progressed over the discography. It’s a well-done remastering job by JB Van Der Wal (ABORTED) at Hewwetover Studio, Groningen, Holland and a perfect demonstration of the inner brutality can be instantaneously found in the album cover and layout by Nestor Carrera. So, if you never get enough of bands like VITAL REMAINS, INCANTATION or KRISIUN and don’t have the other ESCARNIUM releases in your closet yet, you should check out “Godless Shrine Of Decay” and be prepared for a complete version of the merciless Brazilians. To find out more about the band and label, please visit www.facebook.com/escarnium or www.facebook.com/redefiningdarkness