LightningRider Disfiguring the Goddess is my favorite slam band. This one man act might be underground, but he's known for including weird and creepy electronic in most of his albums. After a six-year hiatus, however, he went for more straight-up, typical slam. And since slam death is such a repetitive and monotonous genre, one could say he sold himself out.

Blood Animal acts as a follow-up to the 2020 EP Sooth, which is a return to form featuring electronic elements with a stronger ambient touch. The album was engaging and short, and I expected something similar from Blood Animal. However, the ambient and electronic was a bit weakened, as if DTG was attempting to reach a middle point between his style and the more typical brand of slam death. As a result, the album carries only a little progression and isn't very engaging. Thanks to its small amount of variety, it's still a better album than the boring hiatus-breaker, Katapillar. But most of the songs have the same basic goal in mind and follow the same tempo, which can get monotonous quickly. Add the fact that this is the longest album in DTG's catalog, and one realizes that this could have been so much better and done so easily.

Has DTG really run out of ideas? Or is he just trying to increase his status as a "real" brutal death metal act by steering more into the typical side? Either way, this album, while fairly enjoyable for anyone who likes brutal death metal, is still weak in comparison to the weird outings of Disfiguring the Goddess, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for any reason.

LightningRider Disfiguring the Goddess, the one man act of electronic producer Big Chocolate, made a point of being very different from typical brutal death metal on his debut, Circle of Nine, by including electronic and deathcore influences at different places. The next album, Sleeper, would continue this style by carefully placing a more atmospheric style of electronic noise in between (and simultaneously with) stronger slams and chugs than the debut. Deprive, however, perfected the style.

Deprive is so very different from a typical slam album that some even debate if it's a slam album at all. Blending slams with breakdowns at an oftentimes indeterminable balance, the album begins with raw heaviness so brutal that Cannibal Corpse would be impressed. And from then, we switch between raw filth and polished metal, all including the creepy electronic of Sleeper with with a stronger sci-fi atmosphere, bringing to mind images of Metroid and Cthulhu, which makes this album one of the scariest and heaviest albums I've ever heard.

I don't have any complaints about this album. I've heard so much slam death metal that sounds exactly the same that while the purist may be disappointed in how eccentric and unique this album is, the end result for me is a breathe of fresh air. If I had to recommend any one slam death metal album for beginners, it would easily be Deprive.

LightningRider I'm a guy who takes a binge on a specific genre seriously. The best way7 to educate yourself in any genre is to take advantage of being in the mood for it. But with most genres, I find a plethora of fantastic albums I'd easily recommend to anyone. When it comes to the slam death genre, a more specific version of brutal death, it's a bit of a challenge finding something that doesn't just chug or sound filthy and all the songs sound the same.

I need wild, and I need weird. I hate it when so many bands are just playing the same thing and ripping off other people. Such is not the case with the early discography of Disfiguring the Goddess, a (mostly) one man project by electronic producer Big Chocolate. And this album includes elements of electronica and deathcore, coming in at random points to give the album a unique personality that most brutal death bands fear to attempt. Big C. is clearly not afraid of metal purists, which is admirable considering that I'm against the purist attitude myself, specifically because DTG proves with his weird and wild style that he is willing to keep the darkness and chug factor up while being goofy. He never loses sight of raw heaviness.

The only problem is that this was the first time he attempted this style, so it wasn't perfected. A lot of the progressiveness in the electronic and deathcore influences is inconsistent because they pop up in such random places. This happens consistently throughout the album and can turn off people looking to explore DTG. Otherwise, this is an interesting debut, and it's worth looking into because the style gets better from here with other albums, but it all started out with this quirky and fearless debut.