Death Whore – Blood Washes Everything Away
Release Date: 16th May 2025
Label: Duality Records, Crypt of Dr. Gore, Specific Recordings, Hecatombe Records, and No Good to Anyone Productions.
Bandcamp
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Autopsy, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Morbid Angel.
Review By: Paul Cairney
French trio, Death Whore, have released an almighty slab of death metal in the form of Blood Washes Everything Away. This is not, in any way, shape or form, a ground braking album. It strolls firmly in a well-trodden path, firing out big buzz-saw riffs and blast-beats that is just fun to listen to.
Fun is the key word. Blood Washes Everything Away will not appear on any end-of-year lists. It won’t have reviewers in so-called ‘big’ publications waxing lyrical about the next big thing. No, Death Whore are above this kind of sentiment. What we have is 11 tracks spread through an album that lasts a mere 33 ½ minutes. These tracks are full of vigour, aggression and traditional death metal ‘juice’. Not all bands have this juice, but when they do, you know you are in for a treat.
It is not just pure death metal on show, ‘Motorthroat ‘79’ has lodged a claim to be my favourite track this year. It boasts a death metal underbelly, fusing it with a punk sensibility that few bands can master. It rattles along and tries its utmost to kick your arse right in the hole!
Other tracks that stand out in a strong album includes, ‘Vile Display of Repugnance’ and, another personal favourite, ‘I Went to See My Grave’, which closes out the album. In naming these, tomorrow could see, ’12 Worm Wounds’ or ‘Noyé dans le Sang’ being listed. The songs are, in terms of quality and enjoyment, interchangeable.
Normally a ‘solid’ album is one that isn’t great, but isn’t really offensive. It is a word used in lazy reviews – I have used it numerous times myself – but in this case, it is an apt term. Blood Washes Everything Away is not outstanding. It is an honest album that is very, very enjoyable. The short run time provokes pressing play again as the final track ends.
Death Whore have embedded an album in a very competitive genre, a genre that is capable of breeding unexciting albums. What Blood Washes Everything Away does well, is that it captures the essence of old-school death metal, but infuses it with an approach that can’t help but bring a smile to your face. Highly recommended.
(4 / 5)
