There’s something viscerally satisfying about a band like Sanguisugabogg refusing to sand down their edges. Hideous Aftermath doesn’t aim to reinvent death metal; it revels in its own filth, groove, and unapologetic ugliness. If anything, it’s a refinement — a sharpening of a blade they’ve always wielded with reckless abandon. The Ohio crew sound tighter, heavier, and oddly more confident in their nastiness, evoking the precision and brutality of early Cannibal Corpse or Cattle Decapitation, yet retaining a chaotic energy all their own.
Where Homicidal Ecstasy felt like blunt trauma, Hideous Aftermath feels like a wound that’s been carefully stitched, only to be ripped open again. The album oscillates between chaos and control — a dynamic captured perfectly in tracks like “Rotted Entanglement,” where riffs and double-kick drums snap together with a surgical precision that recalls the technical ferocity of Cryptopsy. The chemistry between the members has never been sharper. There’s a moment in the record where everything locks: the bass hums low, the drums snap just right, and the guitars weave through, proving that Sanguisugabogg are no longer just writing breakdowns—they’re constructing tension. That push-and-pull runs like a pulse through the entire album.
Tracks like “Felony Abuse of a Corpse” and “Ritual of Autophagia” demonstrate a patience and rhythm often missing from extreme metal. Space is allowed to breathe; slow, doom-laden sections hang with oppressive weight, reminiscent of Autopsy’s suffocating atmospheres or Incantation’s patient pacing. When the pace returns, it hits exponentially harder. There’s groove embedded in the violence now, a sinister, addictive momentum that fuses Pyrexia’s grinding energy with Suffocation-level technicality.
Guest contributions are woven seamlessly into the album’s nightmarish fabric rather than feeling like gimmicks. Damonteal Harris of PeelingFlesh, Todd Jones of Nails, Lille Gruber of Defeated Sanity, and Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation all lend their distinct voices—from piercing high screams to inhuman gutturals—but Sanguisugabogg absorb each contribution so naturally that the collaborators feel like extensions of the band’s own twisted consciousness. “Abhorrent Contraception” stands out as a fever-dream track, crawling mid-tempo before erupting into crushing heaviness, evoking the dense chaos of Dying Fetus or Devourment.
Moments of experimentation are sprinkled throughout the record, adding depth and unpredictability. “Repulsive Demise” is cold, industrial, and unsettling, trading meat-grinder riffs for atmosphere, echoing the tension of Godflesh while retaining the aggression of death metal. Even “Sanctified Defilement” flirts with nu-metal-style tension, sneaking melody and dissonance into its grooves, faintly recalling Slipknot’s ability to balance heaviness with nuance. These experimental flourishes reveal the band’s quiet confidence in embracing the weird and unexpected.
What ultimately ties Hideous Aftermath together is intent. Sanguisugabogg finally sound like they fully understand who they are: mean, groovy, unpretentious, and intelligent in their execution. Every breakdown feels earned, every slow-burn deliberate. By the time “Paid in Flesh” arrives, featuring Dylan Walker’s tortured screams, it isn’t just a finale—it’s a descent, the record digging deeper to explore how far its rot can reach, echoing the doom-tinged extremity of Full of Hell or Gruesome.
If Homicidal Ecstasy was them finding their footing, Hideous Aftermath is them planting their flag firmly in the ground. It is disgusting, deliberate, and darkly satisfying—a record that makes brutality feel almost… comforting. You don’t just listen to it; you sink into it. This is a celebration of ugliness, executed with precision and confidence. Hideous Aftermath proves that sometimes the ugliest things age the best.
NOTABLE TRACKS:
Ritual of Autophagia
Heinous Testimony
Abhorrent Contraceptio
Repulsive Demise