Review: Warmashal – The Diseased (single)

October 3, 2025

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Bolts are thrown and veins are tapped.

(This review was written by David Gupta)

I don’t think there’s a more appropriate first review for me to take on than Indian “war-torn” death metal band Warmarshal’s new single condemning bigots.

Warmarshal have been advancing onwards slowly but steadily since their founding in 2017 by guitarist/ vocalist Soumick Chakraborty in Hyderabad, India. With their 2018 EP …To Regain Lost Glory and a single in 2024 simply titled Shell-Shocked, the band have carved out a space for a particularly groove-laden death metal sound similar to stalwarts Bolt Thrower, Memoriam, and Obituary. This year’s new single, The Diseased shows some growth, bringing a healthy amount of Teutonic thrash into the fold without compromising their commitment to writing riffs and grooves that surge forward on steel treads.

The Diseased showcases the same lineup as 2024’s Shell-Shocked with Chakraborty flanked by drummer Akaash Kishore and bassist Hubert Chen. Together they’ve packaged their new single with an instrumental version of the same song which in my estimation is a bit unorthodox, but ultimately worth it. The vocals retain their dry, venomous raspyness from their debut EP which, in my opinion, are much more expressive than the deeper gutturals delivered in Shell-Shocked. However, the instrumental version of the song holds up well on its own, avoiding one of the pitfalls that many armageddon-bound death metal bands fall into when writing this kind of music: a lack of dynamics.

The song shifts quickly from mosh-worthy ‘80s thrash riffing to pummeling hammer blasts to ringing distorted chords reminiscent of the mighty chorus of Bolt Thrower’s final album’s title track– a small amount of breathing room before going right for the throat once again. A quick dancing bassline melody in the first half of the song and the rhythmic switch-ups after the pretty standard guitar solo show interesting places on the horizon that Warmarshal might have their eyes on but haven’t quite reached yet. It’s little details like these that show me Warmarshal has it in them to expand outward even more and truly develop into their own sound, and I really wish their next offering deviates from the mold even more. We love Bolt Thrower. We love Sodom. But, we already have both. Ain’t nothing wrong wearing your influences on your sleeve (God knows I do), and while The Diseased is solid, my favorite thing about it is hearing it and knowing the potential heights future Warmarshal material might rise to.

I can’t begrudge them too hard, since the band is still gaining their footing in the metal underground with a total of just over 30 minutes of recorded material released across the last 7 years. They have all the time in the world to find themselves, and frankly they’re already on their way.

Lyrically The Diseased gets all the points in the world from me being a song which, in no uncertain terms, trashes religious extremists who incite hate and violence in our world. Fuck ‘em. It’s a nice minor variation on the tried and true anti-religious messaging of a lot of death metal and thrash metal, but I would have loved to see them use the more pointed and visceral imagery from the choruses in the verses as well. Gang vocals repeatedly cry out “Taking the name of your God” in a call-and-response with Chakraborty’s accusations during the chorus.

Warmarshal states bluntly that extremists “justify the victims of rape” and “justify the buildings they’ve burnt” in their God’s name. This is the energy we need in anti-extremist songs in 2025. “Religion bad” has been a mainstay theme in metal since the dawn of the genre, so it can be a tired thing to explore (please, Mr. Benton, just try something, anything else), but I’m glad Warmarshal aren’t sugarcoating any of it in the chorus. The verses, unfortunately, feel a bit generic and uninspired in comparison to the chorus with your stock descriptions of “blind masses” and “sermons of hate”. It’s fine, but compared to that gut punch of a chorus, the verses feel a bit phoned in.

The Diseased’s mix and master (courtesy of Tom Geldschläger) helps all these different sounds both have the chunkiness this kind of music deserves without losing the edge and clarity that can sometimes happen when bands get too wrapped up in honoring past legends. Not so raw that it turns to mush, not so clean that it feels soulless. I really have nothing much to add, this song sounds sick as hell.

Regardless of how I feel about strength of the influences on display here, I have to commend Warmarshal that nothing about The Diseased feels forced. Sure, I can hear that they started as a project simply worshipping the British legends (see 2018’s …To Regain Lost Glory, it rules regardless!), but they are clearly widening their influences and sound out of sheer love of this kind of music. I just think they need a bit more time to hammer out how all the pieces will fit together. The Diseased is still a great track, and Warmarshal should be proud of making something that shows the beginnings of shaping their identity while still remaining forever loyal.