Band: DETERIOROT (Usa)
Album: Awakening

Tracklist
01. Awakening
02. The Flame
03. In Battle to Survive
04. Horrors in an Everlasting Nightmare
05. A Ghost in the Mirror
06. Deliver Us From Fiction
07. Haunting Images From a Past Life
08. Programmed By Fear
09. Winter Moon
10. In Silence
11. The Spirit
12. To Sleep

:REVIEW:

Finally, DETERIOROT are back, and they’ve definitely put the last nail in the coffin with this one. With Awakening, the NJ/NY death metal veterans deliver their darkest, nastiest, and most uncompromising record yet. Paul Zavaleta and crew have spent more than three decades perfecting their rotted, atmospheric sound, a lethal fusion of early Finnish, UK, and Swedish death metal, filtered through the grimy intensity of 90s New Jersey. It’s mid paced, guttural, and utterly bone snapping, the perfect cocktail for anyone who loves their death metal soaked in doom and dread.
The album absolutely hits from the opening track, “Awakening,” plunging the listener into a hellish soundscape of creeping riffs, pounding drums, and Zavaleta’s demonic growls. Tracks “In Battle to Survive” and “Horrors in an Everlasting Nightmare” showcase the band at the peak of their craft, tight, heavy, and punishing without giving in to that modern overproduced sound. There’s menace in the guitars, filth in the production, and darkness in the songwriting that just grabs you firmly by the throat.
Even with nearly four decades behind them, DETERIOROT refuse to rest on their laurels. The riffs slap, and the sheer sense of authenticity here is utterly staggering. Awakening is a reminder of why the old school still rules, a terrifying, fully realized death metal nightmare that will make you want to hit that repeat button.
With every listen comes something new, something you might have missed on the first round. For anyone chasing genuine old school brutality with a modern touch, this is essential listening. Get around it.

Review written by FuegoCasa in collaboration with Headbangers Australia in October 2025.