Deteriorate: Rotting in Hell (1993)

I have mentioned many times (to the point that I think I am repeating myself a lot) that one of my favorite things about the metal community is the continued desire to unearth albums that may have gone by unnoticed.  That brings me to this not-quite-classic album by Pennsylvania death metal band Deteriorate.  The band released this album in 1993 then made the bizarre decision to change their sound to black metal for the follow-up.  They were never heard from again.

As might be expected from their geographical location, Deteriorate's sound is rooted in the New York bands like Immolation and Incantation, with some Cannibal Corpse thrown in for good measure.  It is a rotted, decayed sound which was perfect for the time period.  The songs are ridiculously catchy for death metal with some memorable riffs and decent, if somewhat sloppy at times, drumming. 

This is an album that has achieved something of a cult status, though not to a major extent.  I know I had not heard of the album before grabbing it, and honestly I was not aware of how old it was when I bought it.  It is not necessarily a lost classic, but it is pretty damn good.