Death metal’s a funny thing. While it’s by far the best subgenre of metal in my honest opinion, many of its bands that emerged post-1995 have a tendency to fall somewhere between absolutely fantastic to headache-inducing. In recent times, however, the genre has begun to experience a sort of mini-renaissance of bands that follow the old school styles of death metal (i.e. Tampa, New York, and Sweden) like Homewrecker and Gatecreeper. What makes Washington D.C.’s Genocide Pact so interesting is that they appear to be a sort of amalgamation of all three of these sounds, and while they don’t necessarily do anything new with them, their songwriting and sense for brutality creates a punishingly groovy and evil death metal record in Order of Torment.
A criticism that I’ve heard of many a death-doom band is that they tend to draw out otherwise fine compositions to an unnecessary crawl, boring the listener into submission in an attempt to sound brutal. This is not the case with Genocide Pact. Order of Torment never has a dull moment--from the thrashy-sounding “Spawn of Suffering” to the crushingly feedback-driven end of “Ascendancy Absolved,” the D.C. three-piece makes sure that you don’t find yourself distracted or bored at any point in the record’s 39 minute runtime. The vocals, handled by Tim Mullarney, sound like a voice emerging from hell to haunt your worst nightmares, an effort that’s even more impressive when considering that he also handles guitar duties. Given that many death metal vocalists have the potential to sound strained and tired, Mullarney’s jagged yawp is undoubtedly the band’s most potent weapon.
That isn’t to say that the rest of Genocide Pact’s armory isn’t loaded. The drums move seamlessly from slow war cracks to lightning-fast blast beats as the band channels the varying styles pioneered by bands like Immolation, Malevolent Creation, and Entombed. The mix is about as good as you can get for a band paying homage to old-school death metal; each tremolo-picked note and furiously struck cymbal is perfectly audible. The bass doesn’t stand out, but rather serves to bolster the group’s hellish sound. If you prefer shredding in your OSDM, however, it’s best you look elsewhere, because you won’t find it here; the few solos on Order of Torment, like the one found in “Pain Reprisal,” feel more gradual and grueling, which makes sense given the torturous nature of the music.
Order of Torment is just as good as any OSDM-style death metal record you’ll hear in 2018, if not better. Genocide Pact’s refinement of a sound that’s well-established within metal is an impressive feat, managing to pay homage to days past without sounding derivative. With this record, Genocide Pact have set themselves a seat at the OSDM-revival table alongside Gatecreeper and Blood Incantation. Go give it a spin.
-Cesar G.
A criticism that I’ve heard of many a death-doom band is that they tend to draw out otherwise fine compositions to an unnecessary crawl, boring the listener into submission in an attempt to sound brutal. This is not the case with Genocide Pact. Order of Torment never has a dull moment--from the thrashy-sounding “Spawn of Suffering” to the crushingly feedback-driven end of “Ascendancy Absolved,” the D.C. three-piece makes sure that you don’t find yourself distracted or bored at any point in the record’s 39 minute runtime. The vocals, handled by Tim Mullarney, sound like a voice emerging from hell to haunt your worst nightmares, an effort that’s even more impressive when considering that he also handles guitar duties. Given that many death metal vocalists have the potential to sound strained and tired, Mullarney’s jagged yawp is undoubtedly the band’s most potent weapon.
That isn’t to say that the rest of Genocide Pact’s armory isn’t loaded. The drums move seamlessly from slow war cracks to lightning-fast blast beats as the band channels the varying styles pioneered by bands like Immolation, Malevolent Creation, and Entombed. The mix is about as good as you can get for a band paying homage to old-school death metal; each tremolo-picked note and furiously struck cymbal is perfectly audible. The bass doesn’t stand out, but rather serves to bolster the group’s hellish sound. If you prefer shredding in your OSDM, however, it’s best you look elsewhere, because you won’t find it here; the few solos on Order of Torment, like the one found in “Pain Reprisal,” feel more gradual and grueling, which makes sense given the torturous nature of the music.
Order of Torment is just as good as any OSDM-style death metal record you’ll hear in 2018, if not better. Genocide Pact’s refinement of a sound that’s well-established within metal is an impressive feat, managing to pay homage to days past without sounding derivative. With this record, Genocide Pact have set themselves a seat at the OSDM-revival table alongside Gatecreeper and Blood Incantation. Go give it a spin.
-Cesar G.
Archival details
- Original URL
- https://metallifestyle.weebly.com/metal-lifestyle/review-genocide-pact-order-of-torment
- Recovery source
- live-weebly
- Recovery date
- 2026-07-22
- Stewardship polish
- 2026-07-22
- Preservation status
- restored
- Missing assets
- None recorded
Preserved by Bloodsoaked Media · The Archives