Maim
From the womb to the tomb
Soulseller Records
This is cretin death metal for death metal cretins, as if that wasn't obvious from the title and cover art. No surprise, it's not as if the genre hasn't always been a refuge for degenerates and losers, though in Maim's favor, it must be said that their particular brand of death is far more schlocky b-movie horror/gore-obsessed than anything else. Thankfully, there's nothing even remotely approaching the distastefulness of Cannibal Corpse's "Fucked with a knife" and beyond that, I honestly doubt they take their lyrics all that seriously so neither should you. Anyhow, it's nice to see this album finally get a proper vinyl release at long last as that is the proper format for this sort of maggot-minded metal and Niels Nielsen's appropriately filthy, but extremely well-balanced production. Anything else you need to know can probably be gleaned from their country of origin (Sweden) and their choice of cover tune (Autopsy's "Ridden with disease"). I'll sure there are legions of people out there ready to start the backlash against the current old-school death metal revival trend, but as long as bands like this keep putting out solid new releases, I'm all for it.
- Avi Roig
