"3 AM in Agony"

Vastum's new album, Patricidal Lust, is heavier, darker, and a hell of a lot uglier than its predecessor, 2011's Carnal Law, and this subterranean San Francisco supergroup pull no punches in making that fact brutally obvious. Members of Acephalix, Hammers of Misfortune, and Necrot convene to pay bloody tribute to death metal's old gods, to twist the genre into a lunatic creation of their own. A thread of sickness runs through the album, augmented by a palpable sense of agony and disgust. Even with a new Carcass album in town, Vastum stand out amongst the legions of death.

"3AM in Agony" is anchored by one of those knuckle-dragging, head-nodding, immensely satisfying mid-tempo death metal riffs that have always been Bolt Thrower's bread and butter. The dual vocal assault spearheaded by Dan Butler and Leila Abdul-Rauf is pure savagery, and, especially in the latter's case, all too audible; the lyrics' fixation on sexual abuse and depravity is on full display, and ramps up the intensity to an almost intolerable level.