A New Dawn for the Dead

When a band's song titles have included "Gagged, Shagged, Bodybagged," "Bed 'Em, Behead 'Em," "Zombie Graveyard Rape Bonanza," "Can't Fit Her Limbs in the Fridge," and "Stab Me Till I Cum," it is safe to make two assumptions: (1) the band's members have seen way too many bad horror movies, and (2) they come from the Carcass/Cannibal Corpse/Necrophagia/Macabre school of shock value. Lyrically, A New Dawn for the Dead owes a lot to the American and British death metal and grindcore bands that came out of the late '80s and early '90s — and like Carcass' Symphonies of Sickness or Cannibal Corpse's Butchered at Birth, this 2005 release is delivered in a very satirical, tongue-in-cheek fashion. Gorerotted's material simply oozes with irony. And yet, it would be a mistake to think of A New Dawn for the Dead as an exact replica of old-school grindcore. Rather, this gorefest is best described as a goofy death metal/black metal mixture (more death metal than black metal) that thrives on grindcore's over the top horror imagery, and the British band is highly entertaining if one isn't offended by sick humor. Conceptually, A New Dawn for the Dead is a throwback to a time before death metal/black metal was dominated by Scandinavian bands — and while many of the Nordic outfits that emerged in the '90s and 2000s take their interest in dark subject matter quite seriously, Gorerotted is an exercise in pure entertainment value. Extreme metal is definitely an acquired taste, but those who still listen to Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Necrophagia, Macabre, and Cancer religiously will find a lot to like about this very twisted album.