Garoted - Evil Personified [EP] (2011, Self-released)

Does the US need another death metal band? Yes, there's always room for more quality death metal! Garoted, a band from Nebraska with a demo, album and now also an EP in their catalogue, is (as you might have guessed) a death metal band. Breakneck speeds is an element that I think most people can appreciate in death metal, and the American band does not waste time. Even if their drums are beyond crazy and demented blast beats are what dominate their music their songs are still close to or above 5 minutes, which I think most will agree is alot for death metal music. The roaring vocals, grisly riffs and ripping drums all come together in a malicious explosion of death with an old school feel.

Something that death metal has always had trouble overcoming is the chaotic feeling that the downtuned guitars and high speeds induce, and while Garoted feature all those elements that normally make it hard to listen to, the first two songs on the EP are both memorable, sinister and brutally well-organized. Unfortunately this can't be said for the entire EP, and this is one of the main weak-points of Evil Personified. Variation is often great, but on this EP there's a huge difference in quality. The last two songs, "Heretic Fire" and a cover of Deicide's "Oblivious to Evil", are marginally worse in production, and this bothers me tremendously especially because they aren't marked as demo tracks or anything like that.

What I mentioned above seriously messes the wholesomeness of the release, and this makes it really hard to take serious as a complete release. I would've preferred if the two first tracks, which are really strong efforts on their own, were released without the last two as this would've given a better general view of the band. Heretic Fire is still a good song in its own right, still displaying the great variation structure-wise that makes Garoted a special band in my ears, but the inferior sound quality makes it terribly hard to enjoy.
Check out Garoted if you're into really really really fast no bullshit death metal with no room to take a breather. This shit is intense, and the first two tracks alone speak of monumental talent that earns this EP 7/10 guitars. I would've given it more if there wasn't the issue with the production on the last tracks.

Tracklist:
1. Under the Infernal Allegiance
2. Raping Benevolence
3. Heretic Fire
4. Oblivious to Evil (Deicide Cover)

GAROTED official site