Dying Grotesque might not be the most familiar name on the death metal scene, but the young Ukrainian band deliver a huge, sometimes classic, and often interesting sound on their current single ‘Nuclear Meadows’.

This first taste of their upcoming album taps into the traditional death metal sounds of the scene’s forefathers like Death and Entombed with an unrelenting vocal style courtesy of Vadym ‘Silvan’ Tsymbaliuk, but their brutalist stance captures a more modern twist. The classic elements are tempered, at first, by a death-grind hybrid sound from guitar work that delivers riffs with a sledgehammer approach, when the band works through a slow and oppressively heavy sound. A change of tempo midway leans further into the traditional, however, when the guitars begin to attack with an almost punky edge. This allows drummer Andriy ‘Nordwind’ Butok more scope for an impressive sense of rhythmic power, whilst the guitars – supplied by Silvan and Volodymyr ‘Liquidator’ Degtyarenko – blend a pneumatic sharpness with lead work that drops in an almost arty, angular tone to keep things on the good side of interesting. With an unflinchingly bleak lyric thrown into an already uncompromising mix, it results in the kind of track that deserves attention from those keeping a close ear on the extreme metal scene.

It’s great to hear a band taking familiar elements and attempting to twist them into a new shape. There’s enough force here to please the traditionalists, yet enough of a musical spark to suggest these lads have something of a progressive musical viewpoint, boding very well for the proposed full length disc.

The ‘Celestial’ album will be released via Archivist Records on November 29th. In the meantime, you can take a listen to the new track below.