Annotations of an Autopsy were a notable British group in the crossroads between Myspace-era Deathcore and Brutal Death Metal. They were hated by many metalheads during their heyday - to be fair, imagine being into Slam and adjacent sound and suddenly scene kids are at your shows. This is their debut release, a short four-track EP serving as a good introduction to their sound.
The intro is a short Industrial-esque interlude that serves no purpose, especially for such a short project.
Steve "Sewer Mouth" Regan is an entertaining vocalist, delivering enough sewage-tinged 'bree' vocals to keep this debut chugging along the whole way through. It's probably this release's best component, standing as some of the best in this period's style. He's a great force on each song, also occasionally using more shrieked vocals or being joined in by group vocals. The latter is most infamous on the title track, featuring the hilarious "SHE BLED FROM EVERY FUCKING HOLE!" and "WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, YOU WON'T HAVE A CUNT LEFT!" gang vocals. They help plenty with the songs' energy - even more so in a live setting.
Of course though, the vocals aren't the only good element here. There's plenty of Slam-influenced guitar chugging and breakdowns present, made especially good by the band's tight playing. This EP's guitarwork in general is hard-hitting - mainly consisting of tremolo, chugged riffs/slams with a sporadic use of pinch harmonics. The drum and guitar are decent, though the drums coudl've been louder in the mix. Although this is a mostly constant musical bludgeoning, there is some mild melody during certain moments which gives this some edge over its peers. For example, around the 3-minute mark on Gore Gore Gadget the riff is almost epic-sounding until it's devoured by another chunky breakdown. There's plenty of beefy breakdowns and slams here, not a dull moment on it. It definitely leans more into the brutality than other releases in the genre, achieving something more palatable.
Welcome to Sludge City is a short but satisfying release, likely one of the best Deathcore x BDM crossovers of the 2000s. They released a few albums and EPs after this, even reforming after a breakup in 2013.
7.5/10
See also: Waking the Cadaver, Misericordiam
- kreyzi
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