The corridors beneath the surgical hive pulse like living arteries, breathing heat through walls lacquered in black organic resin. Something ancient moves below the metal grates — not walking, but dragging itself through the dark with the sound of wet machinery grinding against bone. The air carries the smell of antiseptic decay and burnt marrow while pale extraction drones descend from the ceiling on hooked limbs, harvesting whatever still twitches beneath the operating lights. No voices remain human anymore. Communication devolves into guttural frequencies vibrating through fluid-filled chambers where the dying hang suspended upright like unfinished experiments. Every failed body is recycled into the nest, fed back into the endless biomechanical organism growing beneath the planet’s surface, its appetite evolving faster than language itself can describe it.
If that image doesn't perfectly encapsulate the feeling of listening to Pestilectomy's album, From Vulnerable to Funeral, then I don't know what does.
Pestilectomy understands something crucial about slam death metal: it's best when it's messy, visceral, and overwhelmingly brutal rather than clean and clinical. That's the philosophy that powers From Vulnerable to Funeral from the very first second. The trio of Dusty (guitars/bass), Len (vocals), and Felix (drums) has crafted an album that taps into the brutal underground sound without being a pale imitation of the big names. Dmitry Bastanov's production and mixing out of Kyiv, Ukraine, is dense and disgusting, but it gives each instrument the space it needs to hit you with full force.
"Insectile Nasogastric Intubation" is the perfect way to kick off the record, hitting you like a ton of bricks before settling into a slow, punishing rhythm that then gives way to massive slam sections. "Forced Intussusception" follows with a more streamlined, riff-driven approach, utilizing ugly rhythmic patterns to get its point across. "Aspirated Human Marrow" then adds a layer of chaos with abrupt tempo changes and frenetic drumming that makes the song feel like it's on the verge of falling apart at any second.
Where Pestilectomy really finds its footing, however, is in the middle section of the album. "Ministry of Molested Necrophiles" is utterly putrid in the best possible way. The riffs feel like they've been dragged through sewage, and the breakdowns are designed to flatten you. The title track, "From Vulnerable to Funeral," serves as the album's centerpiece. It balances relentless brutality with slower, groovier sections that allow the sheer weight of the music to breathe rather than becoming an overwhelming wash of noise. It's here where Pestilectomy proves they can write dynamically charged slam songs as well as they can bludgeon you.
"Ophthalmic Harvesting" and "Intravenous Napalm Administration" keep the punishment coming while demonstrating how rhythmically driven Pestilectomy really is. The drumming is relentless, constantly pushing the tracks forward, while the guitars churn behind it with slow, mechanical grooves that have an industrial feel to them. By the time "Fixation on the Vermin-Infested" and "Remnants of a Neurotraumatic Suffering" close out the album, it feels less like a collection of songs and more like you've just survived an sustained act of violence.
What sets From Vulnerable to Funeral apart from so many other slam releases is its palpable sense of grit. There's grime in the production, weight behind the riffs, and a feeling of violent forward motion that permeates the entire album. It's not going to win over anyone who dislikes slam, but that was never the goal. Pestilectomy made an album for fans who want to hear heaviness taken to the ugliest possible extreme, and they nailed it.
This album and their latest release, Soundtrack to an Embalming Room, can be found here or wherever the filthies of metal is found.
