Broken Hope "Swamped In Gore" Cassette

Gore drenching first album by Chicago USA Death Metal masters from 1991.

Fantastic sounding reissue by FLOGA , GREECE. Limited to 300

It has been long debated as to who were the true pioneers of the subgenre of brutal death metal. Many people would more likely say Cannibal Corpse or Suffocation. However, I would make the argument that Chicago's Broken Hope was the true pioneer of brutal death metal. After all, Broken Hope encompass everything about brutal death metal (blast beats, breakdowns, grooves, low gutteral vocals, and brutal lyrics). Swamped in Gore was the first true example of brutal death metal and it came out a month prior to Suffocation's debut album in 1991. Noted that this album was the first death metal album to be recorded in digital format. With this being an early example of digital format, every instrument sounds on par with each other, but still retaining the raw energy the band had to offer in their early years. Joe Ptacek's vocals were among some of the best in death metal history and were groundbreaking for the time. Musically speaking, the guitars are super distorted and very heavy, the bass is quite pounding, and the drums are quite groovy. The blast beats are more reminiscent of grindcore bands such as Napalm Death and Terrorizer than say bands like Morbid Angel or Deicide. Some of my favorite tracks on Swamped in Gore have a different vibe to them. "Bag of Parts" is a much more groovy and mid-tempo tune. "Awakened By Stench" was in my opinion, the best track of the album for its constant style shifts when it goes from grooves to blasting and even to one of the greatest breakdowns in death metal history in the final 90 seconds of the tracks. "Devourer of Souls" was a more straightforward brutal death metal track. "Dismembered Carcass" is quite memorable not only being the fastest song of the album, but its insane lyrics.
No true weak tracks on the album. It's a forgotten classic in the history of death metal (particularly brutal death metal and the second wave of death metal that began in 1991). Broken Hope showed that they were willing to lead the pack for both brutal death metal and the second wave of death metal with gruesome lyrics and catchy songs. So if you like death metal bands that groove or write catchy riffs such as Obituary, Bolt Thrower, Autopsy, or Death, then this album is right up your alley. Highly recommend more people give this album a chance and give it the credit its due. All hail Broken Hope!

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