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Unearthing the Metal Underground: Australia’s Contaminated

The land Down Under is more than what you see in the movies. But with that said, it really is defined by great deserts, vast plains, wetlands and other challenging elements that humans have had to confront. This topographical backdrop lends itself to Australia’s rugged spirit. And this, in turn, has manifested through the nation’s revered and absolutely unhinged death metal scene that was forged by the likes of Sadistik Exekution and Mortification. More recently, there’s been a relatively younger kid on the block who has been making noise.

Running for about a decade strong, Contaminated spouts rabid death metal that is straightforward in purpose and delivery while offering sounds that are likely to appeal to fans of brutal death metal, traditional death metal and black metal. The Melbourne-based quintet released its second album, “Celebratory Beheading,” via Blood Harvest Records yesterday. The unit has clearly grown since its debut, “Final Man,” a completely stripped down, visceral assault. With album number two, the Aussies manage to retain the primal stomp whilst spitting out songs that are performed with greater precision that have a definite sense of clarity. Hopefully they’ll be more prolific moving forward, because given the adequate momentum, these guys have what it takes to get in the ring with the big boys.

Jay H. Gorania is a long time metal journalist and sings for Trench Warfare. He also writes for Blabbermouth and Hellbound.ca and has in the past edited for Pit and written for Metal Maniacs, Unrestrained!, Hails and Horns, AMP and Outburn as well as other media outlets.