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Here we have a demo from a very promising new Death Metal band from the United States. Zealotry do not fuck around here – three songs, all of which are around the four minute mark, without any gimmickry or pretension at all; just a sloppy, murky mass of crushing Cthulhoid filth as evil and mystical as they come in this genre. The basic sound here is sluggish, contorted Demilichian riffs played with just a little bit more coherency than that band did it, with a nice crunchy guitar tone that is just murky enough to sound foreboding, as well as good, solid growls that work well with the music. They aren't supremely original or ferocious, but they do well to articulate the fear that this band no doubt wanted to inspire in us, so they work.

The songs on here are all relatively homogeneous, not varying greatly in tempo or mood, just lurching sloooowly toward you, dripping some kind of mucus-like slime; ever the radioactive giant spider of metal's subconscious. Guitar riffs twist in unfathomable ways around one another as the vocalist narrates death and destruction, with the drum beats falling from the sky like loose stalactites. There are even some piano parts, like in the opening track that I cannot pronounce, or in the Jon Schaffer-themed song "Defeat of the SuperEgo," which add even more atmosphere to the already suffocating dark and dismal one present due to the sludgy guitars.

Everything about Zealotry's first demo Radix Malorum is just gloomy, occult and weird as hell, and I love it. The only real downside is just how damn short this is. It leaves you wanting more in the worst way possible, and when that finally happens, you know you've come under their spell. If you can find this twisted little masterpiece, get it without hesitation.