PUNGENT STENCH · For God Your Soul… For Me Your Flesh | BLACK LP

Black vinyl in gatefold sleeve.

Background information about 'For God Your Soul… For Me Your Flesh'

For God Your Soul… For Me Your Flesh is where Pungent Stench announced themselves as one of the most gloriously unhinged forces in extreme music. Originally unleashed in 1989, this debut full-length still reeks of rotten charm: filthy, downtuned riffing, drums that swing between a death metal stomp and a punk-rock kick in the teeth, and a vocalist who sounds like he is gargling cemetery soil. What sets it apart from the countless gore-obsessed records of its era is the band's twisted sense of humor — the horror is played with a wink, and that makes it hit even harder.

The Austrians never pretended to be sophisticated, and that is exactly the point. Tracks lurch from doom-laden crawls into thrashing outbursts without warning, held together by a groove that is almost danceable if your idea of dancing involves a mosh pit and a few bruises. There is a sleazy, bluesy undercurrent running through the whole thing that gives the nastiness a strange warmth. It is crude, it is catchy, and it is endlessly quotable — a blueprint for everything from death 'n' roll to modern deathgrind.

Decades later, this album remains a cult touchstone for anyone who likes their metal mean and their humor black. The riffs stick, the atmosphere is thick enough to cut, and the sheer audacity of it all still raises a grin. A mandatory piece of extreme metal history, now back on wax where it belongs.

For fans of: Autopsy, Carcass, Entombed, Master, Repulsion

Track listing

A1. Intro / Extreme Deformity
A2. Hypnos
A3. For God Your Soul... For Me Your Flesh
A4. Just Let Me Rot
A5. Pungent Stench
B1. Bonesawer
B2. Embalmed In Sulphuric Acid
B3. Blood, Pus And Gastric Juice
B4. Suspended Animation
B5. A Small Lunch

Manufacturer: Hammerheart Records BV, P.O. Box 277, 6300 AG Valkenburg, Netherlands, Contact: www.hammerheart.com