Insanity

California's Insanity originally released this debut back in 1994, right when death metal was starting its free fall after suffering from a large case of overkill. It went unnoticed then, but sure packs a nice punch now. Get a load of that raw production and grimy, Autopsy-esque vibe. Ugly vocals, manic riffing ("Fire Death Fate") and sloppy drumming provide the backbone of this horrible little piece of death metal magic, which, if it had been released in 1989 (as originally planned) would have turned some heads. Hopefully now, on the strength of sewer-grade, grinding death tunes as ugly as "Rotting Decay," it will. While some of the tunes go on for a few minutes too long, it does all blur together nicely into one big squishy, sloppy mess of refreshingly under-produced death metal (check out the changes in sound in the bass drum, often within the same song). The spirit of pure death is alive and well all over this one.