Prior to this Mutagenic Host only had a demo to their name, but their development has been rapid, gruesome and deadly. With ‘The Diseased Machine’ they burst from the lab, cutting a gutsdripping swathe through scientists who should have known better and now set about wreaking bloody havoc upon the outside world. The album gnashes and snarls, huffing on vintage Obituary stink and busying its snout in ‘Necroticism’-era Carcass as it powers its way from one ghoulish moment to the next. The tight, compactness of their songs and windpipe-crunching delivery reminds me of that recent Maul LP, but Mutagenic Host – like many of their UKDM brethren – have their own distinct thing going on. It’s a cracking slab of noise, and between this and a new Vacuous LP it’s safe to say that 2025 is already shaping up to be a pretty splendid year for homegrown death metal.