Gorerotted; the name alone just reeks of underground extreme metal. Album titles like “Mutilated in Minutes” and “Her Gash I Did Slash” only further strengthen this suspicion and when you look at the cover artwork, you know it for sure: this is goregrind, the filthy kind.

But not anymore. After the release of the critically acclaimed 2003 album “Only Tools And Corpses” and a following gruesome one and a half years of touring Gorerotted have matured. Gone are the horror movie intros, the funny voices and for the most part the tongue in cheek song titles. Gorerotted in 2005 sounds more focused more intense but most of all more serious. The production reflects this as it sounds cleaner and more defined; producer Markus Roedl did a fine job on this one.

I don’t know if this is to be contributed wholly to the departure of second vocalist Mr. Gore but it’s a fact that the underground stench has washed of, even the gore influences are minimized a bit. “A New Dawn...” is beyond death metal and grindcore and Gorerotted have created a niche in the metal scene for themselves with their, and I quote their bio: “pure extreme metal with a rock and roll attitude”.

Still I do long a bit for the old Gorerotted, with their uncanny humor, the witty song titles and their great live performances. I certainly like this album but I’d prefer “Only Tools And Corpses” over it any given day.