Basement Torture Killings: Lessons in Murder Album Review!
Music Review:
Imagine contently strolling down a dark alley, or maybe across a field for a short cut. You’re lost in your own world as the calm almost silent night air breezes past you. Suddenly a bulky frenzied maniac leaps at you whilst wearing human skin and a belt of nipples or whatever. He screams like a wild animal as he plunges a long razor-sharp blade into your right ear, then shrieks some more into your left.
The noise and intense rush that accompanies your final moments are kind of similar for the sheer brutal out of control death and grind music that Basement Torture Killings play their captured victims as said playthings cry in unison. Napalm Death, Death, Exhumed, Carcass could be to blame for the massacre, but likely Necrophagia, Mortician and Gorerotted bringing their lust for gruesome films to the multitude need to shoulder some guilt.
Basement Torture Killings (BTK) creep around the streets of London, UK, and have been around since 2007 hurling out graphic pounding metal (Snuff Grind) concentrated on murders and complete horror. Recently, however, for their last two albums they’ve been joined by the sweet angelic Millie/ aka the sadistic Beryl. This guttural growling mad as a straitjacket wearing Hatter vocalist has tag teamed with Paul/ aka Tarquin’s insane yells and guitar playing to form what is perhaps the most unbelievable sonic attack I’ve heard in many years.
Lessons in Murder smashed its way out in 2020. It’s a sort of concept album as in it is an instruction manual of sorts. Armchair Psycho or Pure Predatorhas a jolly ditty of an intro, “BTK presents, lessons in murder, the complete guide to homicide for beginners….” Suddenly it hits, sounding like post GG Allin era Murder Junkies combined with Terrorizer, the happy calm before the monsoon of disease concludes, we are now into the house of BTK – too late to get out.
“The time is nigh your mind is set, to take a life to snuff it out….” Through furious words we are told to annihilate and humiliate, dominate, and why we should do it. The throbbing fast music has nothing but loud violence in store. You know the kind of drumming that no human should be able to create, well the Faceless Killer is the man to do it.
The Three Step Hit Formula is the plot and plan for the murder. Lyrically though I know they’ve based some of this on true life crimes, I cringe at the fact that a UK band mentions “Uni campus for sweet co-eds….” but then “…city streets drug addled whores...” is quite universal.
The story continues – “Now you have full control, notice in stirring inside you, the longer it lasts, the more intense the climax!” Lessons in Murder is awash with graphic descriptions of perverse sex and of course manic slaughter. The deepest derailment of sanity has to be Psychoflage which explains the art of fitting inside society and the crowds, so no one guesses you are in fact a cold-blooded murderer.
Everything runs out of control through your ears until the seemingly faster (is that possible???!!!) League of Extraordinary Killers which name checks a few of such and the abrupt conclusion leaves you breathless. You actually survived… time to play it again…
Basement Torture Killings sound like those old 90s death metal tapes which probably circulated every specialist store with a sliced-up autopsy photo or dead accident victim on the cover. What is extraordinary to me is at no point does it all merge into one lengthy white noise, each track is individual and what is also amazing is that the demented Beryl has a deeper booming snarl than many male vocalists I’ve heard.
I adore the slick and vile soundbites in-between some of the tunes, really makes the atmosphere and mood of dread. Transitions occur throughout the songs via guitar and drums, all the while Brother Kain keeps the backbone bass playing.
Basically, this is old school goregrind/deathgore but made in 2020. Intelligent and brilliantly constructed, Basement Torture Killings aren’t here to be nice and friendly, they’re here to skin you, smash your cranium in, then open your body wide to spoon out your viscera – not all necessarily in that order!
Bizarre Leprous Production, the label who are brave enough to release this monstrous mistake has a running history of lobbing out nasty high-volume bands such as Abortion, Blood Duster, Bowelfuck (what a name), Impetigo and many more so they know what to fuck listeners up with!
Nicely, the album is dedicated to Cyan of Dead Infection.
Album Info:
Band: Basement Torture Killings
Album: Lessons in Murder
Members: Tarquin (Guitars, Vocals) Beryl (Vocals) Brother Kain (Bass) The Faceless Killer (Drums)
Year: 2020
Country: UK
Recorded: Bleed in Ears Studios – London, and JBJ Studios – London
Mastering: Keon Verstralen
Runtime: 35.56
Label: Bizarre Leprous Production
Official Websites: basementtorturekillings.bandcamp.com, fb.com/Basementtorturekillings
Track Listing:
01. Armchair Psycho Or Pure Predator
02. The Three Step Hit Formula
03. DIY Store Murder Kit
04. Exercising Your Dominance
05. Erotophonophilia (Lust Murder)
06. Public Displays Of Aggression
07. Psychoflage
08. Resolving the Body Problem
09. The Pen Is Mightier Than Another Splayed Corpse
10. Objectification
11. The League Of Extraordinary Killers
