It’s an odd thing; I’ve been a fan of death metal for well over a decade and a half, but 2025 marks the first year I would specifically call myself a fan of brutal death metal. Sure, I could always appreciate the commitment to sheer heaviness, but I always (mistakenly) assumed the genre was just one-dimensional and single-minded as a general rule. But through the year, I’ve found myself taken in by the genre, unravelling its intricacies and really starting to appreciate the level of personality some bands within the style develop. Some bands provide a straight bludgeoning and that’s it, yes, but then there are bands who really know how to spice up the sound. Bands like Enragement.
When Enragement landed on our review list a couple months back, I was fully unfamiliar with the Finnish group, but I was also in the throes of an addiction to all things brutal, so Extinguish All Existence felt like a safe bet. Even just some straightforward brutality would be great, you know? But cheerfully, Enragement goes much further than slam riffs and mosh fuel breakdowns. Those elements are there, of course, but Enragement‘s approach is far more melodic and at times atmospheric than much of the genre can be. Add in the bands penchant for strong songwriting and pacing, and Extinguish All Existence proves one of the more genuinely fun albums I’ve stumbled across in the subgenre.
Beyond a brief sample, Enragement goes straight for the jugular with opener “Vorarephilia.” Blast beats and downtuned riffs launch right out, flooring the listener with their thick, heavy tones and clear, punishing production. The sound of the album is borderline perfect for the style right from the intro, thick but easily decipherable and giving every element its own space. “Vorarephilia” is just a crusher of an opener, if not particularly unique for the genre. But that feeling of sameness does not last long.
No, it’s the second track “Abyssal Hellscapes” where I realized that I would like Extinguish All Life more than many other albums in its genre. It’s that tremolo riff that introduces the song; sounding akin to a pitched-up overcaffeinated spin on Candlemass‘ “Gothic Stone / Well of Souls”, or perhaps more directly Nile‘s “Unas, Slayer of the Gods”, it evokes an atmosphere and sense of familiarity I wasn’t expecting when I started the album. Atmosphere becomes a key feature at several points across the album, peaking on more drawn-out closing title track.
Nile‘s actually a good point of comparison for Enragement, because both bands are masters at taking their music to great heights through small subtleties. So many of the riffs across Extinguish All Existence end with some little technical flair that delivers a marvelous payoff, like the little trills in “Harbingers of Degradation” or the little moment in “Hypercarnivorous” where the bass jumps up the fretboard to duplicate a legato run with the guitars. And on that note, the bass proves a vital presence, whether it’s that spot, cutting a pummeling groove under the leads, or the multiple points across “Vesuvius” where it emerges as the lead instrument, flowing like the city-levelling titular volcano’s pyroclastic flow.
There’s so much across the album that’s just sheer fun. “Hypercarnivorous” gave me a genuine smile when that weirdly happy tapped lead first emerged, feeling like triumphant music from an NES game (or maybe I just have Metroid on the brain). The huge obligatory tom hit announcing the final breakdown in “Parasitic Ingress” felt more deserved than the great majority of similar moments across the genre. And the band’s talent for making a riff feel slow and lurching despite tremolo leads and frenetic double bass is a perfection of a vibe I always love wherever I can find it. Even on the more straightforward brutal death beaters like “Pathogenesis” or “Natural Mass Asphyxiation”, Enragement is just great at what they do and never leave the listeners stretching for a reason to headbang.
Constantly engaging pummeling, spiced up with tasteful frills, Extinguish All Existence is just brutal death metal done right. Even as the days cool down and my own listening wants are drifting towards the blackened end of the metal spectrum, Enragement has delivered an album that was just a delight to listen to and review. It’s a definite highpoint for brutal death metal this year, another credit for Transcending Obscurity Records‘ roster, and a great way to roughly cap off the year where I truly ‘got’ brutal death metal. Extinguish All Existence is some of the most fun I can imagine from taking a beating, and next time I want some brutality, I’ll know just who to turn to.
