Castle Freak have made a name for themselves over the past couple of years as one of Philadelphia's sickest death metal bands. Their distinct brand of Repulsion worship has the death metal underground buzzing. Few bands invoke this level of fucked up punky metal mastery. Of course, every band has its peaks and valleys , and Castle Freak has certainly seen their fair share with an impromptu break up in December of last year turning into their best lineup to date. Revamped with Sebastian Phillips of Noisem on drums and Ben Anft on bass, the band has emerged from the crypt. Their debut release with this new lineup, Human Hive is five tracks of hard driving death metal madness of the highest caliber. Castle Freak are a demented band – and they know it – that's part of what makes them so damn good.
That being said, Castle Freak are not without their more humorous moments. Every track on this record has a sample from a horror movie as an intro, and that's got to count for something right? Obsessed with old school gore flicks, obscure death metal (They cover Impetigo for Satan's sake!) and the inherent magic that comes from four dudes making music in dingy basements, Castle Freak are the kind of band that we need in 2016. Few acts revel in the grime the way that Castle Freak do, and the pounding, vile might of a track like 'Matul' only helps to prove that. Castle Freak fucking kill it on Human Hive. Unlike so many of their peers Castle Freak are delivering the goods and ripping off skulls one blast beat at a time.
