Inferisium is the Death Metal project of Dale Svartr and Scorned by the Wicked is exactly what he says it is: a return to the bones of the genre, stripped of polish, trends, and modern excess. This is Death Metal as a physical thing — blunt, heavy, and built to leave bruises. No grand concepts, no studio trickery, no distractions. Just four tracks that understand what made this music worth caring about in the first place.
What immediately stands out is the fucking intensity, because Scorned by the Wicked is punishing from start to finish. The riffs are as direct as taking a sledgehammer to the head repeatedly. There’s a confidence in that approach that somehow doesn’t make the songs fell rushed or cluttered – a usual pitfall for a lot of Death Metal bands tha don’t know what they are doing and just thinl that a good record is a bunch of people showing off. You don’t get any of that here. Each track knows exactly what it needs to be and refuses to become anything else.
The guitar tone is thicker than my ass after Christmas, but without being muddy, carrying that unmistakable weight while still leaving space for the drums to hit hard and clean. Nothing here sounds accidental or careless — it sounds deliberate, like someone who understands that old-school doesn’t mean sloppy, it means focused aggression with intent to maim. Svartr keeps things grounded and vicious. There’s no theatrical posturing, no forced extremity. Instead, the delivery feels natural, as if these songs aren’t being performed so much as expelled. The lyrics fit perfectly within the atmosphere — grim, confrontational, and free of unnecessary embellishment.
Then there’s the Dismember cover, Override of the Overture. Covers are a dangerous business, especially in a genre that reveres its foundations as fiercely as Death Metal does. Most fail by either copying too closely or trying too hard to modernise something that doesn’t need it. Inferisium sidesteps both traps. The track is handled with respect but not reverence, played as part of the EP rather than a museum piece. It sounds like Inferisium, not a tribute band, and that’s exactly why it works.
Scorned by the Wicked doesn’t attempt to redefine Death Metal or drag it somewhere new. It doesn’t need to. What it does instead is remind you why this music mattered in the first place — when riffs were heavy, songs were lean, and nothing existed outside the need to crush the listener under sheer force of will.
This EP isn’t nostalgia. It’s conviction.
You can stream Scorned by the Wicked by Inferisium via Spotify or pre-order it via Bandcamp.
CHOICE CUT: Cult of Disarray
BLACK METAL ARCHIVES VERDICT: Four tracks. No fat. No mercy. Scorned by the Wicked hits hard, hits fast, and leaves a bruise — Death Metal done right.
PRESS SOURCE: Cátia C./Against PR
