Like the town itself, Washington, DC-based act Genocide Pact are influenced by a host of areas around the country, with a little sonic negotiation with more foreign compatriots. Order of Torment, their Relapse debut (and second overall) takes cues from a whole host of death metal greats from Florida (Obituary), California (Autopsy), Pennsylvania (Incantation), as well as the UK (Bolt Thrower), Brazil (Sepultura), and Sweden (Entombed). While such a disparate wealth of influences should result in the sort of haphazard chaos we normally associate with the asshats in elected office, the band’s batch of aural punishment is much more orderly in its brand of musical chaos.
Much like their labelmates Gatecreeper, Genocide Pact do a wonderful job making a record that both feels like it could have been snatched from a record store in 1992 while also sounding fairly modern in its more holistic take on old-school death metal. However, while Gatecreeper mine their filth for a doom-soaked brand of triumphant aggression, this DC troupe mine their filth for a second layer of disgustingly awesome filth. Melodies do come and go (“Pain Reprisal” is an obvious standout), but the name of the game on Order of Torment is an incredible variety and density in riffs and drum work. Commor Donegan is a master behind the kit with his ability to make even the murkiest sections feel propulsive, and Tim Mullaney’s dexterous and punishing riffs should write the book on excellent, diverse metallic riffing that recalls the classics without feeling dated. This is clearly death metal through and through, but strains of sludge, doom, and hardcore do poke through at times, especially in the dirge-filled second half of the record. Also notable is the Sepultura-like lyrical direction, which does not hold any punches to power. There’s enough evil and darkness in the world that we don’t need to mine horror or fantasy for a grim story to pair with death metal, and Genocide Pact know how to churn out songs that ooze meaning and passion, not just rote gore-soaked riffs-by-numbers.
In fact, that gets to why Genocide Pact feel like the next big death metal group. Order of Torment does slog ever so minutely in a couple more doom-soaked songs. However, throughout the entirety of the album, it’s clear that this trio are having a damn blast ripping through their take on how to make the old new again, while raising a very defiant middle finger to power. It’s death metal with purpose, passion, and it’s also a Hell of a lot of fun along the way.
