The Underground Rot Compilation marks the first release of the new label Rotting Records. This album features 17 songs and over 71 minutes of extreme underground metal. Some of the material here is new and some is from a few years ago, depending on the band. None of the material here is going to rivel any of the bigger bands in the Christian extreme metal scene like Antestor, Crimson Moonlight, etc. (probably why this is titled "Underground" Rot), but there is some pretty decent material on this disc that is worth hearing. Cause who knows if one of these bands is to be the next big name in extreme metal.
The standout cuts on the album are from Sorrowstorm, Demoniciduth, and Divine Heretic. Some of you might've fell out of your chair when I said Demoniciduth and standout cut in the same sentence. Yes, the band has improved...quite drastically I must say. They show up here with two new songs of death/black metal that sound more like a serious band than their previous, sub-standard material. Sorrowstorm includes two cuts from their Funeral Oath EP (which I really like). And Divine Heretic was a pretty good surprise with some solid death metal.
About the only band that I had a hard time getting into was Nova Lex. The band mixes a lot of styles like electronica and techno into their brand of metal. I liked parts of their song, but some of the electronica and their clean vocals parts just sounded too "pretty" to be taking seriously by extreme metal fans.
Production suffers somewhat on most of the songs here, but nothing that really keeps you from getting a good feel of how these bands sound. The "underground" name in the title should tell you that your not getting world-class recordings. Packaging is quite simple with a one page insert with the different band's website info.
The tracklisting is as follows:
Divine Heretic - Summon the Blood (demo)
Benevolence - Shrouded in Grace
Demoniciduth - Oppression
Sorrowstorm - Occult Moon
Encryptor - Infernal Catastrophy
Frank's Enemy - Torturer
Metanoia - Judge Me Not
The House of Ill Repute - Mange
Encryptor - Brutalizer of Humanity
Saturate - What Goes On
Frank's Enemy - Face to Face Again
Metanoia - Accute Obliteration
Demoniciduth - Torrents D'amour
Sorrowstorm - Cursed Fires of Gehenn
Nova Lex - Internal Truth
Divine Heretic - Eternal Suffering (demo)
Ministros del Santuario - Depresion Cronica
If you're a fan of underground death and black metal and want a good introduction to any of these bands, you should be able to pick this up at Blastbeats.com for around $10. Also, check out the label's website at http://www.rottingrecords.tk for more info on the label and links to the bands on this compilation. (Review by Matt) 
