There are some really good death metal bands from Chicago. Amongst them would be Blood Of The Wolf, Broken Hope, Cardiac Arrest, Cianide, Fleshgrind, Hatemonger, Master, Molder, Morgue, and plenty of others. However, many of these bands have not survived.

Cardiac Arrest who formed in 1997 have been active quite a lot since the beginning. And what we have here on their most recent album entitled 'The Stench of Eternity' are lot of similar things as in their past. It is the sound of what they call "death rot" metal, which alone is quite unique in style... so what to expect really, especially if you're not familiar with this style? A songwriting approach that focuses on axe-grinding guitar riffs (with some leads), growls in the main vocals with some backup screams (to add a little variety), aggressive tempos though not an exceptional myriad of blast beats that reflect on older LPs and lyrics that will literally make you puke after reading them!

They've maintained mostly the same lineup for quite some time as well, which goes to show you that this form of entertainment (old school death metal) is quite serious and they stand behind their performance here yet again!

Looking for specific things in this album, mainly the music, recording quality, the mixing and overall sound, I've heard some pretty consistent things, though I noticed that the guitars were a bit flat sounding. A lot of their recordings have a "live sound" to them and I feel that is missing here. I mean, the music is strong, the riffs are a kind of take back from 'The Day that Death Prevailed' (2020), but the sound could've been a little juicier. Definitely, a steady sort of progression musically and a more mature release, just I'm missing that sound like on 'Haven for the Insane' (2010). But you've got at least 3 different voices transpiring on a given song, though Adam's main vocals are what's comprised on mostly every track.

I did not find any holes or gaps on this album in terms of inconsistencies musically, it is continually HEAVY, it is old school sounding and it is quite persistent. You can hear the guitars pretty good, but again, the audio quality is not as good, despite. Everything else was fairly strong in the rhythms, bass, vocals and drums. On some of their previous LPs, especially the earlier material was good but the recording quality was fairly decent you'll hear everything loud, just the sound again is a little muddled. The music IS fresh, though more of their older releases capture more of their more "live sound" and more intense moments.

Definitely, a strong release, still that old school vibe, just older releases more be more appealing if you want to capture that full essence to them...

Rating: 9- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
03/21/2026 10:55