Released a few months before their debut for new label Relapse Records, Rotting Godless Throne is a three song 7" of crawling death metal from the unapologetically atavistic Father Befouled, who have taken it upon themselves to carry the torch for the brand of ugly, monstrous death metal of Incantation and Immolation. There are worse bands that one could pledge allegiance to, and Father Befouled channel the atonal evil of those two bands surprisingly well, as the opening title track proves; "Rotting Godless Throne" conjures swarms of pestilential grinding and blast beat chaos among slabs of labyrinthine black ooze, all doom-laden and demonic, cavernous reverb soaking into the murky jagged riffage and sludgy heaviness. The guttural vocals are drowned in just as much reverb, and the slow doom passages border on Corrupted levels of massiveness...

The b-side track "Testament of Unholy Essence" is a squealing, blasting vortex of warped death metal slime that winds down into a downward descent into subterranean doom, followed by a cover of Profanatica's "Weeping in Heaven", which features Profanatica / Havohej founder Paul Ledney making a guest appearance on drums for maximum legitimacy, the band delivering a scorching rendition of this classic black death assault.

If you're a hardcore fan of the oppressive, sepulchral death metal of early Incantation, Immolation, Dead Congregation and Vasaeleth, man, this one's for you. Oh, and the first two tracks also feature Chad Davis (of a bazillion different bands we're crazy about, like US Christmas, Set and Mortuor) on drums.