Consisting of six thick and grim tracks (two being vinyl exclusives), Gorging on Mephitic Rot plays more like a lower-fi first album instead of a debut demo. The grime and slight fuzz around the edges add to the intensity and vileness of the recording, and as "rotcentric" as Adrián is, Stenched surely benefits. Rot's six pieces vary in speed from nicely propulsive to sludgy and grim, with more of the focus being on the latter. It's in this dark, dank, heaviness that Stenched truly gets to shine as the slower tempo allows the vileness to creep further into one's ears and oppressively weigh down their soul. Propped up by interjections of quick and hammering speed, Rot never sticks in one place long enough for the listener to get comfortable and that is done by design. Heavily relying on gory imagery, Stenched manages to avoid the traditional gore pitfalls of being oversaturated with distortion and with vocals that sound like a backed-up garbage disposal. Instead, Adrián keeps everything in check, lets each instrument sound its part, and allows the album to breathe despite its thick, vile nature.

 

First released digitally, then on CD and cassette, Gorging on Mephitic Rot is now getting a 12" vinyl release, complete with two additional tracks. Although this is the debut demo from Stenched, it plays like a full-fledged release. Not everything needs polish, and Adrián manages to hit it out of the park from arranging, playing, all the way down to production. Gory death deserves some grime on it to match the music within, and Gorging on Mephitic Rot has that in spades.