Album Review: Castrator – Coronation of the Grotesque

Artist: Castrator
Title: Coronation of the Grotesque
Label: Dark Descent Records
Release date: August 15th, 2025
Country: USA
Format reviewed: High-quality digital recording

Album Review: Castrator – Coronation of the Grotesque via Dark Descent Records by Mihai

The album starts in a strong manner, leaving no air for breathing, with some really groovy, thrashy riffs if you will, courtesy of the first track “Fragments of Defiance” then it instantly changes rhythm with some remarkable guitar wammies creating some atmosphere, before a pretty welcome yet surprising pace shift; this track personally reminding me of another californian band, Vapor when it comes to the technicality of the riffs and solos.

The next track on this album is “I am Eunuch”; the track picks up right after the one beforehand left with a slightly drastic change when it comes to mood and album linearity so far. The riffs feel chuggy, and again the wammies of the guitar assert diversity in the melody of this song. This song feels big especially thanks to the tempo switches and vocal layerings amplifying the value of the torture of being eunuch{castrated}.

Third track is “Covenant of Deceit”; It starts with an intro mocking the middle east traditions of marrying young girls and “conducting them to rape and abuse”. The track by itself repeats the formula of the other two tracks mentioned, a slight difference being the focus on the vocals and drumming during the song’s timespan; and on a sidenote it is also pretty consistent when it comes to breakdowns.

Fourth track is “Mortem Opeterie” and this one is a blast head to toe. The track opens with a thrashy riff alongside a fearsome scream. The track is at a high yet it does not fail to diversify itself with breakdowns and slight tempo changes. The track feels like a boost of adrenaline; I am a huge fan of what they did with this song and i love evbbery bit of it; and at times it feels quite similar to Bloodbath‘s own “So you Die” through the way the vocie is amplified and combined with the alert nature of the riffs.

At the half of the album we have “Remnants of Chaos”, which instantly reminded me of “Cancer of the Soul” in combination with Crypta songwriting. Vocals are shrieky and gutural as per this whole album, a difference that this track overall is more of a guttural one in which i mean that it is a bit slower and the breakdowns don’t accelerate and they slow down the track adding to the overall experience.

As the sixth track of the album we have “Deviant Miscreant”. This track once again comes in hot with aggression yet the main point of interest is the guitar solo, the melodic riffage creating a climax within this track even through the whole album i might add through it’s placement and technicality; vocally the track goes lower than the previous ones and the vocal layering sequences are a tad reminiscent to Cattle Decapitation, overall a strong track.

Seventh track coming is “Psalm of the Beguiled”; This one feels more like home in comparison to what i was expecting, a fast-paced brutal display of deathcore. The riffs in this one aside from the breakdowns are pretty linear and the vocals steal the show with this one. The breakdowns are fast paced and don;t even give you the chance to analize em; amazing work on this one.

Eighth track is “Blood Blind”; Once again capitulising on the thrashiness of this album, this track comes with great riffs, wammies and surprisingly with a story; The writing on this one is the most complex in my opinion and it all feels like the pieces fall into place. The riffs keep momentum, the wammies add ambiance and the vocals complement the track so nicely.

Ninth track is “Discordant Rumination”; Personally i wasn’t expecting anything else from this track, it’s a really heavy song that slows the pace at times to focus on breakdowns and vocal performance. A really good song overall but personally not my cup of tea {maybe this will change as i listen more and more to the album}.

And for the final track we have an Exodus tribute with a cover of the song “Metal Command” from their magnum opus “Bonded by Blood”. There is not too much to say here that the song genuinely fits the band’s style quite well yet it is surprising to se an Exodus cover from a death metal/brutal death metal band even.

Overall, the album is enjoyable yet there are some flaws from my experience listening to it but nothing to major except the fact that at times it feels like the song try to outdo each other when it comes either to technicality or brutality or even both instead of working hand in hand.

My favourite track from this album was “Mortem Opeterie” and I suggest you all to listen to this and suuport the band going forward. 8/10

Band
Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
Spotify

Label
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Bandcamp
YouTube

8/10 To Greatness and Glory!
**Please support the underground! It’s vital to the future of our genre**
#WeAreBlessedAltarZine
#TheZineSupportingTheUnderground