BASEMENT TORTURE KILLINGS

The original line-up of BTK first escaped from their asylums, secure units and maximum security prisons back in 2007. They were drawn together by fate and stayed together due to their mutual interest in death metal, grindcore and killing. They evaded capture long enough to record a demo, an EP and two albums, The Second Cumming, which was released through Arcane Productions in 2011 and the hellish A Night Of Brutal Torture, unleashed by Grindscene Records in 2014.

Sadly, while touring in support of that monstrous album, only guitarist Tarquin was sufficiently careful when disposing of the leftovers from his ‘extracurricular activities’, the rest of the band falling prey to the ever zealous police. Tarquin was left to stalk the sewers and cesspits of the world, searching through the ranks of the sick and psychotic for those gifted enough to continue his crusade of metal and barbarity. Eventually he found them…Dr. Krauss, an unlicensed ‘surgeon’ with a bloodlust to match his bass playing. Faceless Killer, a barely controllable beast, only content when battering and bruising drum skins or human skin. And Beryl…wide eyed but far from innocent and perhaps the only creature capable of making her bestial band mates uneasy and uncomfortable. Yes, there’s definitely something about Beryl…

So what better title for the latest album from Basement Torture Killings? There’s Something About Beryl takes not only the madness to new levels, but the sheer musicality as well. Conscienceless monsters they most certainly are, but BTK can play! You won’t hear a more intense, more terrifyingly convincing slab of death or grind anywhere. Tarquin’s solos tear through these songs like power tools through flesh, the onslaught of the bass and drums is utterly overwhelming and then there’s Beryl – a chilling presence of unfathomable inhumanity and sadistic cruelty, repulsive and yet compellingly enticing. This album is a sickness, as infectious as the plague. This band are unnerving, dangerous and addictive.