Megascavanger to release "Toxic Noxious Undeath"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Xh-y2UAcU

Over months, years, decades…the poison so carelessly disposed of sinks down through the soil – bleaching, mutating, choking all that it touches. Slowly, slowly it descends deeper into the underworld, through layers of man’s detritus, through roots and rock and history, finally pooling in a place of the forgotten dead – the abandoned, the unmissed, unmourned, unloved. And here the poison works a different dark magic. Where it has killed the living, it brings a hideous parody of life to the dead. The toxins permeate the ragged flesh and mouldering bones and by some unholy alchemy, some ghastly, mindless sorcery, the inert bodies start to move…rising from their polluted resting place in a tainted miasma of corruption and decay, infused with a savage hunger and an implacable, unquenchable thirst for revenge...

Rogga Johansson, the man of a thousand bands, each one more steeped in the essence of death and decay than the last, has returned with his first Megascavenger album in six years. Not since 2020s Songs In The Key Of Madness have we been exposed to the particular brand of sickness that Megascavenger offers up, but in the name of all things dead, dying and undead, the wait has been more than worth it! Toxic Noxious Death is not only the finest album to bear Megascavenger’s ragged, bloody name, there is absolutely no doubt that it is one of Rogga’s very, very best releases to appear under any of the many malign and morbid names – be it Paganizer, Ribspreader, Putrevore or Bloodgut. If anything this phenomenal Swedish riff machine has ever done has captured your imagination, then you need this album. If you’ve ever loved death metal, real death metal, old and rotten, the way it was meant to be, the way it was when it first crawled out of the tomb, then you need this album.

Toxic Noxious Undeath features an incredible array of guest vocalists, a different one for every track, gathered together from Massacre, Crematory, Vomitory, Mercyless, Benediction, Thorium, Maceration, Fondlecorpse, Avulsed and Void Moon - and every one of them gives a superlative performance. These guests are not just a random selection of death metal heavy hitters either, they each seem to fit perfectly with their assigned track, lifting them to an even higher level. ‘Graveyard Dreams And Bonehouse Screams’ is the ultimate opening track, with top class riffs, addictive rhythms, adrenaline packed and featuring an awesome Kam Lee vocal performance – rotten to the core, it’s everything you could want from a death metal song, and incredibly the quality never flags for a second as the album unfolds. Each song has individual character and atmosphere and you simply cannot pick highlights, the consistency is so unrelenting. On one listen ‘A World Of Fire And Brimstone’ with its distinctive melancholy melodies, enfolding atmosphere of darkness and horror, great bass work, outstanding drumming and howling incursions of lead will seem untouchable. The next, ‘Shallow Grave Overflow’, with Dave Rotten’s inhuman vocals making it one of the grimmest, deadliest offerings on this feast of rancid reanimation will rise to the summit. But in truth, every single song is a triumph, every riff a work of genius, every individual performance a world beater. With colossal immediate impact and the depth and quality to keep you coming back for more, Toxic Noxious Undeath is one of the best real death metal albums you’ll hear all year.

Every aspect of Megascavenger’s return is just right; from the haunting, malignant sound, due in no small part to the mixing and mastering of bassist Johan Berglund at Studio Ulgnor (Coldworker, Axis Of Despair etc) to the apt, grotesque and expertly realised artwork of Lucretia Morti (Avulsed, Putrevore, Ribspreader etc). Toxic Noxious Undeath will be released by Xtreem Music, on CD, 12” LP, cassette and digital formats on August 13th. The Megascavenger is coming for you!