I had very high expectations for Pustulated’s Haematoma after hearing the group’s Pathognomonic Purulency mCD, Inherited Cryptorchidism full length and the split with Copremesis. With the bands unique blend of catchy grinding death metal, insane blasting and vomit-inducing vocals I was convinced they could do no wrong. Then I heard Haematoma.

Haematoma consists of 7 new tracks, plus five of the six tracks from the split from Copremesis, with only the cover of Impetigo’s "Boneyard" being absent. The new material is definitely… different, unfortunately, it also completely fucking sucks. None of the tracks seems to have any particular structure and the riffs completely lack in catchiness, the vocals are still disgusting, but the drums sound more like they were done with a drum machine, than the drumming machine that is former Brodequin skinsman Chad Walls. Everything just sounds incredibly uninspired, including the band’s brief Neuro-Dimebag Exhumation tribute to fallen Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, which sound like a group of 12 year olds taking their first stab at playing a Pantera tune. Simply dreadful.

The final "new" track is the bizarre instrumental track "Dementia Infinita" which just contains some of the most headache-inducing electronic shit I’ve ever had the misfortune of listening to.

As I mentioned earlier, the last 5 tracks are taken directly from the split recording. If you haven’t heard the material before, it will definitely blow you the fuck away. Rather than go into great detail about it, as I’ve already done so in my review of the split, I’ll simply say that the material is fast, brutal, violent and completely inhuman and will leave you thrashing about like a madman on every narcotic known to man.

If you already own the Pustulated / Copremesis split, then don’t waste your money on Haematoma because chances are you’ll be infinitely more pissed and disappointed than I was, however, if you’re a huge brutal death metal fan and haven’t heard the material from the split then this album is an absolute must-buy for the final 5 tracks alone. Be forewarned, however, that after you listen to the album as a whole, you too will be left wondering what in the fuck possessed them to write and record the god-awful new material when the older stuff (from 2004) was infinitely more intense and better in every imaginable way. I’m just glad I got this as a promo, otherwise I’d have been fucking pissed for having wasted my money on their shit new material, and yes, it really is that fucking horrible.

Written By: Teufel