Yes, I joke about the relative “sameness” of death meal, but it’s crazy how small touches or changes to a band’s attack will yield large results. Take a look (or a listen, I guess) at Funeral Sanctum, the latest and first album in five years from Portland, Oregon’s Witch Vomit. They’re a band I’ve always appreciated but never went out of my way to listen to. over the course of their career they’ve gotten down pat the obligatory tenets of death metal, all perfectly executed if not earth shattering in its uniqueness. Then I heard the first single “Blood Abomination” and my ears perked up: hints of dare I say melody were peeking through the murk of death metal guitars and thrashy breakdowns that opened up the dynamics of the songwriting. Witch Vomit, you had my curiosity…now you have my attention.

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