Sanguisugabogg “Hideous Aftermath”

One of the rising death metal acts in recent years, and the hardest band name to spell, Ohio’s Sanguisugabogg has just been bringing their brutal take on death metal since the band’s formation in 2019. From their debut album Tortured Whole in 2021, to their breakthrough album Homicidal Ecstasy in 2023, the band has just grown stronger and stronger. With the band also being a key example of how to properly promote themselves on social media. From incorporating their logo into popular iconography (see the band’s Bass Pro Shop parody merch) to even standing their ground and gaining support when feuding with controversial figure Ronnie Radke. Now, the band is set to release their brand new album Hideous Aftermath. Releasing on October 17th on Century Media Records. Following two years after their breakthrough album, along with a bunch of guests on the album, does the band deliver a path of destruction in its wake?

Album opener “Rotted Entanglement” just goes for the throat and just keeps stabbing. With the heavy guitar and bass from Drew Arnold and Cedrik Davis, it just hits the listener right out of the gate with heavy, old school, slam-style guitars that are akin to early Suffocation. Cody Davidson’s double bass is just unrelenting and a sheer barrage of constant machine-gun like speed. Devin Swank’s growls turn sheer guttural low around the two-minute mark as the song dabbles in an almost djenty breakdown and guitar/drum structure that precedes it. Davidson’s war-like drum strikes, adding with the chugging breakdown intensification just adds this stank-face inducing groove to the main riff. At over five minutes, the song is sheer heaviness in production, guitar tone and overall delivery. Even slowing to a sludgy dirge near the closing moments, Hell of an opening track and sets the bar pretty high for the rest of the album.

Damonteal Harris of PeelingFlesh guests on “Felony Abuse of A Corpse”. With an opening riff that just had me bobbing my head along. Davidson’s double bass continually punches through the mix and adds that deep, pulsing backbone of the track. I did love the hardcore-like breakdown section around the halfway mark. Giving off a grittier, more evil sounding vibe to a riff and drum combo that acts like Hatebreed or Madball try to deliver, but the Bogg just make it sound disgustingly more heavy. Both the vocals from Swank & Harris are perfectly done. Especially when the track speeds up into a more grindcore pacing and energy near the three quarters mark. As I picture the pit just going insane for this section before Swank’s guttural before the China symbol ping just cues up disaster. With a nasty as all hell breakdown to close out the track. “Ritual Autophagia” kicks off with Swank just bringing his deepest growls as the riff just syncopates so well with the drums. As Arnold and Davis continue to give you a barrage of slowed down chugs and quick tremolos, with bass that just adds more weight to the sheer brutality the guitar tone delivers on the album. Todd Jones of Nails also adds an awesome screaming piece, contrasting the deep gutturals of Swank to add the song a similar hardcore/grindcore vibe the closing of the previous song gave. The drum build up at the end, along with Swank guttural, into the closing riff was also just “chef’s kiss” so good. Drums dominate and lead the charge on “Heinous Testimony”. With the guitars and drums just overpowering in the mix over Swank’s vocals. I love the groove of the riff throughout the track, as the drums are just unrelenting in their speed and play style. Even adding rapid-fire blasting during the chugging guitars and pinch harmonics near the second half of the song. As you would expect, the Bogg knows how to end a song with a disgustingly heavy breakdown that just makes your head bang along. All while leaning back on the pinch-harmonic to truly bang your head with all the power you can muster.

“Abhorrent Contraception” is up next and features Josh Welshman of Defeated Sanity. The riff is more complex before the verses, adding a more prog-like playing instead of the meat and potatoes chugging the band is known for. Which was a nice variation and mixes up the formula a bit. The breakdown before the halfway mark, combined with the double-bass, just hits like a freight train. Welshman’s vocals are another great combo with Swank’s performance. Almost Cannibal Corpse-vibes at the halfway mark, in both musical direction and vocals, before the groove comes in with some nice in-the-pocket drumming and dynamics. Davidson really being the highlight of that section. And after the sound clip, JESUS CHRIST that bass drop and breakdown just hits with a monstrous thud. Slowed down chugging, double-bass punching through and bombarding the listener, and Swank closing it out with almost unintelligible gutturals.

“Repulsive Demise” has such a gnarly. distorted bass tone that just rumbles so well in a good pair of headphones. A little slower tempo, and different production style, with elements of industrial and creating truly creepy and ominous atmosphere. A different musical choice that I wasn’t expecting, but the band makes it somehow work. Might be out of the box for some of the die-hards who want straight death metal from them, but adding this darker, abrasive and aggressive production style and genre mix, shows the band is branching out and testing the waters to see what they can do and push outside of the band’s death metal box. I LOVED that opening riff of “Erotic Beheading”. Bringing that slow, brooding, dark vibes in the opening moments. Something I love with the Bogg, as well as acts like 200 Stab Wounds, Undeath and Frozen Soul. More straightforward death metal compared to the previous experimental track, but still a barnburner of a track. “Sanctified Defilement” has one hell of an opening scream amongst the blitzkrieg of palm-muted heaviness and drumming. Drawing Skinless comparisons, but with much heavier vocals thanks to Swank, the song intensifies after the halfway mark. With Davidson flying all over the kit, hitting every single drum and cymbal in his wake. The underlying bass and creative drumming is another nice addition and shows the musical creativity amongst the gurgling vocals and chugging guitars.

“Semi-Automatic Facial Reconstruction” features Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation on it. For me, this was the song I was most excited to hear both Swank and Ryan truly decimate a track together. The building drums rising, before the guitars come in full volume, just build anticipation as the track starts revving up. Drums are punk-like in the up-tempo pacing and performance, as the guitars begin to join in to. Teetering again with that “is this death metal or grindcore?” performance. With the contrasting deep growls and screams, it does add a nice mix-up in vocal dyanmics. Then, Ryan comes in and delivers his trademark goblin shrieks over the riff before Swank takes it back. Though Ryan and Swank did deliver a great performance, I do feel a tiny bit underwhelmed on the collab. Going in, I was expecting both of them both going for the jugular over a closing breakdown, with dueling gutturals and highs. Though I didn’t get what I wanted, the song was still sick from the riff and drum performances and the vocals were still heavy as hell all around. The last track, “Paid in Flesh”, and features Dylan Walker of Full of Hell. Right off the bat, the band just starts blasting and delivering the down-tuned heaviness. Drums are high-octane, as the vocals just add such a pissed-off, nihilistic delivery with the contrasting growls and screams. At almost eight-minutes, the band truly gets ominous and feral throughout. At three minutes, the tracks grinds to a halt to truly capture the vibes of Full of Hell or Eyehategod in it’s unhinged vocals and minimalistic guitar playing. Adding a forboding, sludgy aura to the song. With vocals that could almost be black metal in the delivery and production, the song’s tonal shift just fits not only Walker’s throat-shredding performance, but adds another creative idea that the Bogg just nails. Showcasing heaviness without the chugs and creating a beautifully harsh playing style. And when both vocals join in, THAT is what I wanted from the previous track that the band delivers in spades on this track. Closing the album on a truly complex and an outside of the box experiment that the band is two for two in nailing.

With their third album, Sanguisugabogg in my opinion improved their sound and production with Hideous Aftermath. The creativity of using industrial elements on “Repulsive Demise”, and the sheer sludgy, post-metal direction of the album’s closer just show the band’s creativity expanding and showcasing the band wanting to expand from the brutal death metal roots. The band is firing on all cylinders on the album, with Davidson being the hidden gem on the album. And the guest appearances were well placed and worked well with the song’s they appeared. If you want the traditional death metal sound the band is known for, this record has it. If you want something different or hoping the band starts to push what they can do, this album has that to. Sanguisugabogg has something for everybody on this album and will deliver a brutal and creative path of desolation in their wake and you better be ready to brace for impact. Hail the Bogg!


SCORE: 5 / 5

You can purchase Hideous Aftermath on Bandcamp or stream it on their Spotify. The band will embark on a fall North American tour this fall with support from Despised Icon, Defeated Sanity & Corpse Pile. Check out tour dates and get tickets HERE.