Fessus – Subcutaneous Tomb

Released through Darkness Shall Rise Productions, Subcutaneous Tomb is a eagerly awaited first full-length from the Vienna-based act Fessus. Founded in 2023 the band consists of; Brenton (guitars & vocals), Gumpf (guitars) Thomas (drums) and Jana (bass). Now, two years after the very promising demo Pilgrims Of Morbidity/Thresholds Of Morbidity, which got reviewed on these pages by one of our former writers. While the first two songs on Subcutaneous Tomb were previously featured on the Thresholds of Morbidity live album, the remaining four tracks are new on this release.

Tracklist for Subcutaneous Tomb:

1. Pointless Anguish

2. Asphyxiate in Exile

3. Cries from the Ether

4. The Depths of Lividity

5. Yizkor

6. Living Funeral

Subcutaneous Tomb, and consequently all of its six lengthy songs, stylistically continue where the aforementioned demo left off. The songs are foremost characterized by memorable compositions and deep groove. Furthermore it means – a raw, old-school death/doom metal, heavily influenced by the late 80s/early 90s underground scene.

Subcutaneous Tomb features six slow, morbid and groovy tracks with deranged, versatile and varied vocals, powerful & devastating guitar riffs, double-bass drums and a few strong and well-reasoned guitar solos. Occasionally we get to hear some speed bursts and tempo shifts, but the overall atmosphere is heavy, macabre and impressive – with tracks that focus on producing a ‘rotten’ sound rather than high-speed technicality. Production is muddy and cavernous, which I find fitting for the genre. Finally, the cover artwork strongly evokes memories – or is a direct homage to – Gorguts’ Considered Dead?!

The lyrical themes on all six tracks more or less seems to deal with death and misery in one way or another. If you delve deeper into the lyrics of songs, you’ll often discover that they take more of a poetic or artistic approach to the lyrics rather than creating just visceral and gore songs. Key tracks in my opinion are the opening track “Pointless Anguish” and the ritualistic fifth song called “Yizkor”. The first one kicks things off with the initial sluggish tone for soon after to develop into this grim and frigid death metal assault. “Yizkor” is a different track – with a ritualist vibe to it while also featuring some bone-chilling melodies.

Recommended for fans of Necrophagia, Autopsy, Purtenance, Adramelech, Gorguts, Pungent Stench, Mortiferum and similar acts of a classic, dark and filthy late 80s/early 90s underground death metal scene. Supplementary information on this six-tracker debut from Fessus can be found at the label’s bandcamp.