I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.

Welcome back to Tag Diving! Today I, the immuno-incredible Reliquary Tower, go searching through Bandcamp’s basins as though they were Detroit dumpsters. But I’m not looking for gently used Q-tips, no no no—I’m looking for tunes. Normally each of us as mortals is one of death’s subjects, but today death is ours!

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Mutagenic Host – The Diseased Machine

This album got a lot of love from around the Bowl early this year! I was late to the party, but still managed to snatch a tape before they sold out. I really, really like this album. I’m a sucker for old-school-sounding death metal—of which there’s going to be plenty in this article (sorry Falxifer)—and that artwork RULES. Plus there’s the added benefit of the lyrics being about the shortcomings and dangers of AI. And if you need a refresher on Toilet ov Hell’s official stance on AI, it can be found here.

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Frozen Soul – Encased in Ice

Mid-tempo tank tread-y death metal, my beloved. I hate to coin a cliche, but Frozen Soul really is straight-up Bolt Thrower worship, and lemme tell ya, these folks are devout disciples. I’ve always found it a little funny that they sing so much about the cold when they’re from Texas, but as someone who threw on their first album this morning while scraping frost off my windshield, somehow they totally nailed the vibe.

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Tomb Mold – The Bottomless Perdition

Have you heard those first couple of demos that Tomb Mold did? I feel like they go under-listened to. As is often the case with demos, they’re rawer than their later stuff, which I really like, but they’re still as riffy as ever, and Max’s vocals on these tracks are downright disgusting. Plus, again, I’m a sucker for cool album art, and I adore the cover for this one.

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That’s it for this week! What was the band that got you into death metal? Where should someone start if they were to check that band out?