Stillbirth – Survival Protocol
Release Date: 31st October 2025
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Order/Stream
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
FFO: Extermination Dismemberment, Abominable Putridity.
Review By: Jeff Finch
In the grand scheme of music, there’s something for virtually everyone, some for permanent replay and others for specific circumstances. For example, when I feel like listening to brutal, high-intensity death metal, there are a few options, one of those is our focus today, German legends Stillbirth.
As they are also considered “brutal surf death metal,” it’s clear that the band does not take themselves too seriously and instead put that serious focus into their instruments, the intricate riffs and structurally satisfying compositions able to whet the appetite of any metalhead who needs riff heavy tunes and technical touches, not just a wall of sound. First track on the album, Existence Erased, brings forth mind melting riffage with ear perking hooks only to transition into an out-of-the-blue flamenco breakdown, the band doing their own BTBAM impression. It’s truly a WTF moment, but it’s a moment that’ll at least bring a chuckle for its lunacy. Lunacy, that is, until it’s also heard opening Baptized in Blood as well, the contrast between the opening and the following brutality a clear statement of strong songwriting, the lightness of the acoustic making the subsequent riffs just hit that much harder and with that much more power. This juxtaposition of guitar work shows the band conscious of both pacing and texture, bleeding light into dark and soft into heavy at the snap of a finger.
Next single Sacrificial Slaughter presents a band that understands that not all songs require the same format or energy, the band forgoing the acoustic intro, instead choosing to focus on crushing riffs, unrelenting percussion, and a lyrical focus that’s heavy on the gore and the palpable sense of apprehension. The heavy drums, dense mass of riffs, and thick, layered vocals just make the track feel depraved and downright sinister.
Among the other highlights on the album is Cult of the Green, a song that brings the ooze to Stillbirth. More acoustic flourishes generate the rhythm, get us started, soon to be replaced with tectonic shifting slam, caveman riffs and sluggish tempo give the music a chance to envelop its listeners, the usual speed missing but not missed.
Final track Kill to Rule takes these doomy, slam elements and replaces them with something a bit less the gradual opening buildup adroitly shifting from ambient, clean guitar, into viscerally aggressive instrumentation. The pace and intensity continue to increase: percussion swells into full force, guitars shift tonally, vocals intensify, the band building to a huge crescendo that doesn’t just slam out of existence but, rather, it leaves time for contemplation and reflection, the guitars allowing for space and thought to break through.
While there are some moments on here that don’t encapsulate the band’s sound as well as others, Trapped in Darkness a prime example, the music uninspiring and bland after such a wildly entertaining opening, these hiccups are minimal and the vast majority of Survivor Protocol is vintage Stillbirth; riffs, melody, and crushing rhythm, the band throwing in some experimental elements to stay alive and relevant in a genre that has a lot of excellent music to digest.
(4.5 / 5)
