HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY - "Disturbing The Cenotaph"
Release Date: December 12th, 2025
Pulverised Records
House By The Cemetary is a death metal entity focused on horror-themed concepts, and again on this album they find inspiration from director Lucio Fulci. Horror classics such as, "Night Of The Living Dead" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" also provide lyrical ideas for tracks on "Disturbing The Cenotaph". Some other songs on this album also are the creations of vocalist Mike Hrubovcak himself, or drawn from a real life killer, Paul John Knowles. The members of the band feature previous and current members of Monstrosity, Vile, and Paganizer. Members have also been involved in Ribspreader and The Project Hate.
"Disturbing the Cenotaph" begins with an appropriate ode to the album's personality with "Jack The Ripper". This is a no-frills death metal song stripped down to the bones with a little rancid flesh hanging on for effect. Perhaps intentionally simplistic and barbaric, it is a short aural punishment stating their intended target and executing with force. "Coffin Colony" is a slight step further into the rank entrails of the mercilessly displayed carcass. Catchy and pieced together well with the bloody remnants of old-school death metal hanging on from previous generations. The third song, "Island of the Dead" is carried by the rotted corpses that make up House by The Cemetary with vicious intended savagery. With an unpolished overall production it stands out among other modern death metal bands. Its obvious human created attributes that are not beaten dead in the studio striving for perfected mediocrity. "Depraved Unspeakable Acts" continues the bands onslaught of putrid malevolence. Present as with previous songs, it is stripped bare and wonderfully exposed. Revealed to the elements and the vermin that quickly dispose of the decaying matter, the song is left reeking of death and depravity. Next, "Undead Apocalypse" is a slower song that provides a journey into the scene of the tragic undead storm violently transpiring, remorselessly attacking the weak. Standing out from other songs, it breaks up the feel of the album by adding some diversity. "Phantom Intrusions" is another song paying homage to early 90's American death metal. Finding its charm in a plainly well constructed death metal song without the need to tread onto un-ventured paths. The eighth song, "Burial Disturbance" has more melodic elements than previous tracks. It also doesn't lead to far from the band's intended sound. There is still enough ugliness to behold. Smeared unceremoniously onto the landscape is the remnants of the recently departed. Left intentionally with a perverted sense of artistic creation to simmer in the hot sun that welcomes decay. The album ends with, "Lunatic Butcher", this is another song that begins with a slower feel. I think this adds to the overall brutality of the track. As with all the songs on the album, the material is easy to follow and the songs are not lost in a blizzard of musical hysteria. Despite my emphasis on the simplicity of their sound, it should not be misunderstood as an insult. House By The Cemetary knew full well the sound they were striving for and they maliciously achieved it. Well crafted old-school death metal for those of us that like it nasty.
www.pulverised.net
pulverised.bandcamp.com
Release Date: December 12th, 2025
Pulverised Records
House By The Cemetary is a death metal entity focused on horror-themed concepts, and again on this album they find inspiration from director Lucio Fulci. Horror classics such as, "Night Of The Living Dead" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" also provide lyrical ideas for tracks on "Disturbing The Cenotaph". Some other songs on this album also are the creations of vocalist Mike Hrubovcak himself, or drawn from a real life killer, Paul John Knowles. The members of the band feature previous and current members of Monstrosity, Vile, and Paganizer. Members have also been involved in Ribspreader and The Project Hate.
"Disturbing the Cenotaph" begins with an appropriate ode to the album's personality with "Jack The Ripper". This is a no-frills death metal song stripped down to the bones with a little rancid flesh hanging on for effect. Perhaps intentionally simplistic and barbaric, it is a short aural punishment stating their intended target and executing with force. "Coffin Colony" is a slight step further into the rank entrails of the mercilessly displayed carcass. Catchy and pieced together well with the bloody remnants of old-school death metal hanging on from previous generations. The third song, "Island of the Dead" is carried by the rotted corpses that make up House by The Cemetary with vicious intended savagery. With an unpolished overall production it stands out among other modern death metal bands. Its obvious human created attributes that are not beaten dead in the studio striving for perfected mediocrity. "Depraved Unspeakable Acts" continues the bands onslaught of putrid malevolence. Present as with previous songs, it is stripped bare and wonderfully exposed. Revealed to the elements and the vermin that quickly dispose of the decaying matter, the song is left reeking of death and depravity. Next, "Undead Apocalypse" is a slower song that provides a journey into the scene of the tragic undead storm violently transpiring, remorselessly attacking the weak. Standing out from other songs, it breaks up the feel of the album by adding some diversity. "Phantom Intrusions" is another song paying homage to early 90's American death metal. Finding its charm in a plainly well constructed death metal song without the need to tread onto un-ventured paths. The eighth song, "Burial Disturbance" has more melodic elements than previous tracks. It also doesn't lead to far from the band's intended sound. There is still enough ugliness to behold. Smeared unceremoniously onto the landscape is the remnants of the recently departed. Left intentionally with a perverted sense of artistic creation to simmer in the hot sun that welcomes decay. The album ends with, "Lunatic Butcher", this is another song that begins with a slower feel. I think this adds to the overall brutality of the track. As with all the songs on the album, the material is easy to follow and the songs are not lost in a blizzard of musical hysteria. Despite my emphasis on the simplicity of their sound, it should not be misunderstood as an insult. House By The Cemetary knew full well the sound they were striving for and they maliciously achieved it. Well crafted old-school death metal for those of us that like it nasty.
www.pulverised.net
pulverised.bandcamp.com