Blood Mania - Festering Mutations

Blood Mania are a band from South London who self-identify as blackened death metal, but the guitars carry more of an Entombed-like density on their debut single, which is a two release on Bandcamp. There is nothing on the first song, 'Festering,' that feels like black metal, though to their credit, they have a dark sound that I can appreciate. There are shades of Incantation to what they do as well, but the section the guitar solo erupts from harkens all the way back to early Slayer times, which both genres, Back and Death metal, owe a lot to. 

Second song, 'Mutations,' carries more of a groove, which is effective. Groove does not make anything less heavy, but it makes for a listen that hooks you in, so they can not be faulted for that though the song does have a fair amount of chaos amid the murk created here. Some of this can be blamed on the production, as it is raw and reverbed, so no matter how hard they groove, no one is going to mistake them for metalcore, which draws a line in the sand for some metal purists.  There are some tremolo-picked guitar parts that, if you tried really hard, you might be able to convince yourself carries the spirit of black metal, but it does not. 

What separates Death Metal from Black Metal is not blastbeats or tremolo picking, as both genres use those, but rather the primary feeling they evoke. Death Metal is about aggression, whereas Black Metal covers a wider range of emotions, but ones rooted in darkness. Sometimes this is expressed in a wrathful manner; other times it might be based on depression or a ritualistic expression of occult worship, all of which affect the vibrational frequency conveyed. What is conveyed here is not expressed in the lyrics as they are not articulated enough to get any message across, but is more rooted in the steamrolling power it chugs over you with, which is what fans of death metal are typically looking for, so this album can be recommended to fans of Entombed and Incantation and as such its weighty sonic impact is proven effective here.

Review by Wil Cifer