I’ve briefly mentioned in a review aeons ago but my goodness, the Texas extreme metal scene has becoming such a huge household name in the last decade or so with upcoming bands and about marking new branches and other ways to make it as crystal clear and sharp as possible. Meet Astyanax, a extreme metal band formed in 2010 from Fort Worth, Texas and have been on my radar for couple of years knowing what music they represent I was always dived in into such deep anticipation to finally hear the latest album Extreme Antinatalist Design and is released under their new label Pathologically Explicit Recordings. Now, to describe Astyanax’s style of music is taking elements of brutal death metal, black metal and traditional death metal but having the signatures, arrangements and groove segments to be as gory and murderous sounding as ever before say a band like Jungle Rot as a prime example of what the music is about is full of wonder and captivation.
Musically and lyrically, this album is a much more approachable, accessible, stronger and extremely comprehensive album in comparison to the debut full-length titled Embalmed with Afterbirth which was released in 2018 but for this album, things go extreme and by definition of extreme I mean as in their craftsmanship, technicality and progression as a band has grown significantly over the course of the band’s existence and so far after listening to this record number of times, this is just maddening as it can possibly get. From the vocals, guitars, drum work, bass and production sounding as filthy, abrasive and catchy at times, there’s songs like Auto-Erotic Exsanguination, Gruesome Spontaneous Conflagration, Ejaculating Feces and Crucifysterectomy where I feel a strong blackened death metal atmosphere while maintaining the band’s formula to keep it as brutal, punishing and pummeling at the same time where every counterpart of the instrumentals feel as diverse and audible to the point it doesn’t overshadow the wonderful chemistry these musicians were to create such a blasphemous, versatile and unadulterated experience that will not only satisfy fans of the genre, but myself included. Extreme Antinatalist Design is a extreme metal fan’s paradise for those loving their metal heavy, destructive and eviscerating this is a album you cannot pass.
Overall Score: 9.0/10
Review by Jake Butler
