Premiere: Gutslit Will Spread You like a “Blood Eagle”
“Oh God, please. Let this end soon.” Over and over you utter this silent prayer to yourself through parched lips, the dusty residue of the stadium’s bare surface choking your throat and swallowing any sound that may escape your exhausted frame. You test your bonds for the hundredth time, but the results remain the same; there is no escape from this, your prison, your rapt audience demanding your execution. Suddenly the reverberating clink of a metal gate hinge echoes through the arena, and a cold sweat beads your brow, the stench of fear suddenly seeping through your pores and intermingling with the coppery scent of blood from your already broken face. As two heavy guards adorned with crowns, likely to mock your former status, lumber to your final resting place, tears stream down your cheeks. “I take it back,” you stammer as the first guard wedges a a rough-hewn expander between your thighs. “I do not wish to die.” Your fate? Execution by “Blood Eagle.”
Are you ready to witness a royal bloodletting? Today, I’m pleased as hell to introduce you to India’s Gutslit, one of the nastiest pieces of work east of the Atlantic. It is my distinct privilege to execute you all, one by one, with the death metal heavyweights’ new track “Blood Eagle” from their upcoming sophomore release, Amputheatre. If the opening sample of Jigsaw from Saw II proclaiming, “Oh yes, there will be blood” wasn’t indication enough, this track is grisly.
So what does this track have in common with the ancient viking method of execution? A whole lot, as it turns out. That opening riff hammers you like a maul cracking your ribs for the damage to come. After all your bones are broken by the killer riffs and bludgeoning blasts, demonic vocals pierce your skin, worming their way between your shattered ribs like fiery implements, preparing you for further agony to come. The torture continues as the slightly discordant riffs and massive percussion continue to tear you apart with a technical precision and grindcore-inspired violence, only for the hammering and cutting to come to a jarring halt as the band finally breaks you open, allowing an absolutely massive riff at the 1:45 mark to flay your skin and spread you across the rack. An agonizingly fiery lead finally seals your fate at the 2:34 mark. It’s a shame you’ll pass out from blood loss before the final riff kicks in at the three-minute mark, because that interplay between the drums and guitars is just horrifying.
If you want more blood and carnage and need precision killing the likes of Hour of Penance or Hate Eternal, Gutslit has your number. Be sure to check out the rest of Amputheatre (what a great name) over at Bandcamp, and pre-order it before its October 15th release. Don’t forget to thank them for the mess on Facebook while you’re at it.
Many thanks to Transcending Obscurity and Gutslit!
