Newsflash! Death metal exists in Maine! Now, if that doesn’t wet your whistle, then I don’t know what will. After two demo releases, Molested Senses return with their first full-length. I had no idea of this band before picking up this release and I was a little skeptical about purchasing some down and dirty Maine death metal. For some reason, I had fears of an album that would be overwhelmingly cheesy in sound and nature. However, after a few listens, this release proved to be quite worthy. A single word describes this release; solid.

And you might ask, "What the hell does solid mean?" Well, I’ll tell you, dickhead! It means that this is a quality release in all aspects. The music is tight and well-played, the vocals are good, and the packaging is professional. Rarely do we have a release where all of these aspects are addressed. Molested Senses will not overwhelm you with their breakthrough sound, but one can easily tell that this was not their intention. Their intention was to create some scrotum-bashing, thick American death metal with heavy nods to the early 1990s tradition. I should address the notion of early 1990s death metal which can be easily written off as death metal with messy amalgamations of riffs, low budget production, poor vocals, and tiresome riffs. I must admit that many releases during this time do fit this description. However, I tend to think of simple, yet brutal riffs that stray far from those of the stereotypical "brootal" pit variety, steady pounding drums, and throaty vocals. More specifically, this is what can be considered "American death metal" during this era, with some of more noteworthy bands of this style being Morta Skuld, Gutted, Baphomet, Autopsy, Broken Hope, Morpheus Descends, Obituary, and the likes. A simple style permeated these bands, with a focus on slower, plodding riffs with an occasional burst of speed.

As far as the music goes, it follows the same structure as mentioned previously. For the most part, the riffs plod along at a medium pace, with a tremendously thick sound, with dashes of speed thrown in for good measure. Although this style has existed for over 10 years, the riffs here are quite refreshing and not stale like your uncle’s special- recipe cinnamon buns. The drums and bass are nothing groundbreaking, but they compliment the music well and add to the heavy atmosphere. The vocals are throaty and slightly gurgled, reminiscent of an early Fleshgrind. In overall style, Molested Sense take the structure and sound of early Broken Hope and Fleshgrind and add their own (and more modernized) take on End Complete era Obituary. For a more modern comparison, I would look to a less technical version of Severe Torture.

Again, I stress the word "solid," like a boner in sweatpants. This is a worthy purchase if you enjoy the early 1990s American death metal sound and have been sad and depressed that so few bands make attempts at this style. Now you know that Maine is more than just lobsters, college hockey, and wintry sluts.

Review byDouble Ds