Review by Norbert on March 26, 2026.

I don’t know about you, but for me, in the endless stream of albums that sound like someone’s stuck on a “Death Metal 101” playlist looping forever, every now and then I stumble upon something that—despite logic and common sense—I end up liking more than I probably should. Maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe some kind of cosmic alignment, or maybe just one of those days when my brain craves exactly this kind of noise—that’s how Metaphobic’s debut album got stuck on repeat for me not long ago.

On paper, it’s just another young U.S. band, another death metal release, another case of “we’ve heard it all before.” And yet… something is bubbling here. Not necessarily in a revolutionary way, but in a way that hits exactly the right spot.
Metaphobic emerged from the ashes of Cesspool, and it’s immediately clear these aren’t newcomers—they know exactly what they’re doing. Deranged Excruciations, their full-length debut released in February of 2025 via Everlasting Spew Records, is deeply rooted in the American school of death metal: dense, suffocating, and hitting like a punch to the solar plexus, yet still laced with twisted, technical flourishes. Brutality? Check. Complexity? Absolutely. A touch of madness? Definitely.

We’ve heard these elements countless times before: blast beats raging like a hurricane in a pottery warehouse, cavernous growls, tremolo riffs drilling into your skull, and chords colliding like refrigerators tumbling down a staircase. But Metaphobic assemble it all with surgical precision. This is an album that hits hard—and does so with control. Power, precision, and strong compositional awareness make even the most chaotic passages feel purposeful. And the riffs? That’s where the band truly shines. Dense, winding, sometimes outright deranged, yet always leading somewhere deliberate. When Metaphobic lean into their more technical, almost schizophrenic tendencies, the atmosphere turns genuinely sinister—as if the air itself had been laced with sulfur. Then, just as quickly, they pivot back to crushing, pulse-driven U.S. death metal in the vein of Incantation or Monstrosity. That balance between raw brutality and controlled insanity keeps the album consistently engaging.

The vocals are just as well integrated. Deep, rough, and cavernous, yet clear enough to avoid dissolving into indistinct noise. They could perhaps sit a bit higher in the mix at times, but that slightly distant quality actually enhances the album’s oppressive atmosphere. Here, the voice functions as an instrument just as vital as the guitars.

And just when you think you’ve got the album figured out, Metaphobic shifts gears. 'Disciples Of Vengeance' drags everything into doom-laden depths, slowing the storm before unleashing it again, while 'Insatiable Abyss' opens with a brief acoustic intro—almost as if to say, “don’t get comfortable.” This isn’t a one-dimensional barrage of blast beats; it’s a carefully constructed rollercoaster that knows when to suffocate you and when to let you breathe—only to crush you again moments later.

Deranged Excruciations is such a confident and well-thought-out debut that it’s hard to believe it’s the band’s first full-length. The American death metal tradition is alive and well here, enriched with technical twists and wrapped in an atmosphere so dense you could cut it with a knife. And despite the clear influences, this never feels like imitation—Metaphobic sound like themselves first and foremost. This is the kind of album that doesn’t just grab your attention—it burrows into your skull and refuses to leave.

At least, it did in my case.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10