Ah, the death nerve, wonder where you might find that one? Must have skipped that in anatomy class back in college. Regardless, the UK’s Twitch of the Death Nerve play a brand of brutal death metal that has more or less gone by the wayside since the advent of bands trying to out-tech each other to death (bad pun, sorry). Thankfully, Twitch of the Death Nerve has what many in this genre tend to lack: a sense of humor. They do get some added props for the song title, “Well, If the Turkey is in the High-Chair, Where’s the Baby” as well as the fun to say alliteration of “Peculiar Perversions Particular to the Piquerist” (bet you can’t say that five times fast) and “Scores of Sores, Legions of Lesions.” It’s truly unfortunate that the vocals are mostly of the undecipherable gurgling variety, because they probably only add to the amusement.
All jokes aside, how’s the music then? While it’s nothing that will have you citing them for album of the year but this is quite competently played material. Shifting between fast paced and slamming sections that would feel quite at home amongst the NYDM crowds, A New Code of Morality does tend to hinge on the lyrical department to give them much distinction between their (lessening) brethren. There are a few riffs that stand out (“Of Rutting Beasts and Drifting Herds,” “The Locard Principle”), but this is meant to be a balls-to-the-wall slab of brutality and it does succeed in this front. Of course, what’s a brutal death metal album without samples to start off (or break up) a track? Luckily, some of them are amusing (“The Pitezel Family Holiday”) and never really distract from the rest of the music.
Twitch of the Death Nerve’s attempt to deviate themselves from the rest of the pack with some humor does give them an edge from their more standard, generic peers. It may not shoot them up to the head of the class, but it’s enough to warrant checking out if you are into the most brutal of the scene. Humor is something that metal could use more of!