The time has almost come to “fall back”. Soon, we’ll be blighted by months and months of total darkness after 4 pm. Perhaps for some, this is reason to despair. I love the summer. I hail to the sun and its occult solar-phallic energies as much as the next pagan freak. But perhaps there’s another way. Perhaps we should just lean into the darkness. Make the darkness work for us. I’d say blasting Pissgrave’s debut long-player at the night sky is as good a place to start as any.

Suicide Euphoria is filthy as fuck, depraved and dirty death metal. They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but in the case of this album, I’ll just say this: See that image up there? Is that revolting to you? Well, I should hope so. If not, I’m a little frightened about what you may be getting up to in your spare time. But if you can’t handle that revulsion, if it doesn’t pique your interest a little in its brutal straightforwardness, this album probably isn’t for you. There’s no winking, clever bullshit here. No frills. No cute stuff. Just disgust, rage, rot, and decay.

The record starts blasting right out of the gate with “Perpetual War” and doesn’t stop til the end of “Blood Fog.” No need for samples or long intros or any sort of embellishments that slow down the sonic meat grinder that is Suicide Euphoria. Just completely unintelligible distorted vocals and nasty, pummeling guitar, bass, and drums. Every element of the production is filthy, but the results aren’t muddy. You can tell what’s going on, and the occasional shredding, atonal guitar solos in particular really pop nicely out of the mix.

Profound Lore has another winner on their hands with these bestial bastards from the city of brotherly love. Embrace the blackness of bitter winter nights to come. Give in to the hate. Give in to the disgust. Give in to Pissgrave.

Suicide Euphoria is available now from Profound Lore.