Prostitute Disfigurement - From Crotch to Crown

Published February 17 2014

*=Staff's pick	Only Taste For Decay Battered To The Grave* Crowned In Entrails Dismember The Transgender Under The Patio* From Crotch To Crown Glorify Through Cyanide Set Forth To Annihilate Compulsive Beheading Disorder* Reduced To Stumps

Genre	Death Metal	Niels Adams	Vocals
Tracks	10	Frank Schiphorst	Guitar
Running time	42 Min.	Martijn Moes	Guitar
Label	Willowtip	Patrick Oosterveen	Bass
Release	04 February 2014	Michiel van der Plicht	Drums
Country	Holland	-	Keyboard
Producer	---
Similar artists	Severe Torture, Cannibal Corpse

Slowly awakening, tied up to hands and feet, blindfolded. Someone is closing in, chains rattle, terror spreads within, the end is near, but before that, horror and pain, endlessly. The soundtrack to your torment is signed and stamped by Prostitute Disfigurement. On their early work, particularly 'Deeds of Derangement' and 'Left in Grisly Fashion', those feelings were channelled through brutal riffs with a slight melodic and thrashy vibe accompanied by frantic drumming and the most low key guttural vocals you can imagine. All weaved together into melody driven straightforward, well as straightforward as brutal death metal gets, tunes destined to be hits, well as much a hit as a death metal tune can ever be.

In their latter works, including their latest torture symphony 'From Crotch to Crown', much of that identity has been discarded for a more orthodox sound. Make no mistake, the feeling of torment and agony is still effectively conjured but this album definitely has a more Cannibal Corpse and Severe Torture vibe to it, with a hint of Suffocation. The insane vocals were gone already on 'Descendants of Depravity' for a more conventional death metal approach, think Corpsegrinder from Cannibal Corpse, and this trend continues on 'From Crotch to Crown' even if some lower registers sometimes are reached, but nowhere near those of the old offerings.

What has been lost in hit-destined straightforward tunes with melodic vibes in the guitar play has however been replaced by dynamics. The identity of old is still present from time to time but has been cut out with variation in riff style, slight tempo changes in the mainly up-tempo tunes and some fairly technical episodes giving a new dynamic range to the bands arsenal. The addition of two new guitarists to the stable has also brought two distinct solo styles, one following the screeching Slayer-esque style and the other blasting out pure heavy metal solos adding another dimension to the band's sound.

The dynamic sound is well balanced in the massive production giving room for all components. It avoids becoming a temptingly messy wall-of-sound, but still never compromises with the brutality or the feeling of being trapped in your everyday torture chamber. The drums especially, to the liking of yours truly, are given room to do its tormenting deeds. The drumming really is quite excellent on this one.

However, despite a well executed album rich with dynamic passages I still find myself enjoying the straightforward melody-driven parts of 'From Crotch to Crown' the most. It is a very good album, but not amazing like 'Deeds of Derangement'. The Prostitute Disfigurement of today are on the other hand verging to something great and a step towards their own past might very well in the future give us the ultimate sound of torment, agony and longing for the inevitable end.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
8	6	8	7	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tengan