ASPHYX

The human race is doomed and only death is real.

Formed in the Netherlands in 1987, ASPHYX have always been one of death metal's most ruthlessly idiosyncratic bands. With a sound that draws from the rawest of materials, they have skilfully blended fast 'n' furious extremity with some of the most claustrophobic, suppurating slow-motion doom ever committed to tape.

Coalescing around a stable line-up for the first time in many years, ASPHYX is a finely-honed and fired-up beast, ready to decimate the competition and bludgeon the rest of us with riff after gruesome riff. Recorded during lockdown, the band's tenth studio album Necroceros is manifestly heavier and more vicious than anything they have released before. Partly inspired by the horrors and frustrations of the pandemic era, Necroceros is also an outright celebration of ASPHYX's genre-defining sound.

The band's current incarnation - Martin van Drunen, guitarist and chief songwriter Paul Baayens, bassist Alwin Zuur and drummer Stefan Hüskens - have clicked into a higher gear this time around, capitalising on a surfeit of free time to deliver their finest record yet.