Castrator – Coronation of the Grotesque
Release Date: 15th August 2025
Label: Dark Descent Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal, Old School Death Metal.
FFO: Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Immolation, Undeath, Frozen Soul, Obituary.
Review By: Rick Farley
Comprised of founding members Carolina Perez (drums) and Robin Mazen, the sickening gutturals/growls of Clarissa Badini and newly recruited shredder Sara Loerlein who has some clear Chuck Shuldiner influence in her leads, New York based death metal assault Castrator return with album number two Coronation of the Grotesque. A violent continuation of their outstanding debut Defiled in Oblivion, the band looks to continue wrecking pits and stealing souls, only this time with a slightly different creative intensity.
Right from the opening seconds of the first track, Fragments of Defiance, the thrashy death metal explodes from your speakers like a demon hell-bent on possession. Shards of angular guitars cut and slash through the flesh while the rhythm section pounds in your chest cavity. Old school guitar leads, wails, shreds, and shrieks its way throughout the track like a relentless serial killer stabbing its victims. Covenant of Deceit takes the rampaging death metal from rapidly attacking to stomping and back again, bringing gnarly Immolation, Suffocation vibes at times. The wickedly bouncy groove that starts Blood Bind’s Curse snakes towards an erratic moving tremolo picked guitar line and start/stop chunky riffs, creating a sickening tension that you can feel welling up in the pit of your stomach throughout the entirety of the track. Its brutality lies in its chaotic structure, jerking and twisting your insides until your stomach flesh bursts open and your innards spill out. The cruelty is the point.
Just as their menacing debut ended on a cover song, so does Coronation of the Grotesque. This time it’s a ripping, extra nasty version of Exodus’s Metal Command, complete with some fantastic lead work from new guitarist Sara. She brings a sense of virtuosity and melody to the records brutishness. With the debut being more straight forward in its bone breaking, this record kind of charms you a little more as it’s utterly crushing you.
Coronation of the Grotesque was recorded across multiple studios with key figures in the US death metal scene. Bass recording was engineered by John Tardy (Obituary) at Redneck Studios, guitars and vocals by Jordan Milner at Obsidian Audio, additional guitars by Taylor Nordberg (Deicide, Inhuman Condition) at Smoke and Mirrors productions and drums by Noah Buchanan (Nunslaughter) at Mercinary Studios, where Buchanan also handled mixing and mastering. The record sounds absolutely sick, with this many hands in the pot you would think it would be disjointed, but it’s the exact opposite. It’s full toned, raw, and in your face without being overly screechy. Crunchy guitars, silky smooth lead tones that can gross up rather quickly, battering, thick drums, and enough low end for crushing depth. Also, a shout-out to John Zig for some killer cover art.
Coronation of the Grotesque is an absolute blast to listen to. Brighter guitar tones and a heavier focus on thrashier death metal makes this record a little more accessible to the ears, but definitely no less brutal than their debut. Depending on who you are, the production is also much better now. Either way, it’s still reckless, raging, punishing death metal with great song structures, nasty vocals, and slick leads. These ladies stepped it up to a different sounding level of aggressiveness and attacking brutality. More cohesive, more refined, and utterly venomous. Lock your fucking doors.
(4 / 5)
