Rotten (Independent)

Despite the medical-textbook definition of “cadaveric lividity”—the discoloration of the human body in death—this local metal band’s debut demo, Rotten, is primed to bruise the living.

“Essence of Putrescence” distills the band’s m.o., beginning with a flurry of six-string riffs that ricochet off of Paul Drummond’s blast beats before nose-diving into a grotesque mosh groove. Justin Clark’s subwoofer growl festers in the mix throughout the detuned decadence.

“10,000 Cuts” offers up a straightforward mangling of thrash beats and power-chord chunkiness before piling on pinch squeals on the requisite brutal breakdown, and the title track traffics in the same heaviness.

Cadaveric Lividity’s first offering isn’t the most original death-metal release out there, but it hits the right notes to make it hurt. Crank it up, and let the premortem staining begin.