Retrodeath [Colored Vinyl] (Ofgv), Bonginator, Vinyl

Bang, boom, BONGINATOR! Madness reigns supreme on the sophomore full-length of the American death metal fanatics: "Retrodeath" marks the birth of a new sound, not just for the band but also for the genre. The weed-devouring youngsters have actually put a lot of work into their new songs. Well, if you call immersing yourself for months into '80s action and horror movies as well as playing loads of old video games... 'work'. Then again, more days were spent with researching and emulating the exact synths used in the '80s to reconstruct some of their favourite soundtracks. The result is a fresh and somewhat happily unhinged sonic monster that has been carefully bred by BONGINATOR selectively crossing traditional US death metal, synthwave, and 16-bit computer game sounds. When vocalist and guitarist Erik Thorstenn channelled his love for death metal and weed into the creation of BONGINATOR in 2021, it was not intended as a challenger to incumbents such as CANNABIS CORPSE and WEEDEATER. The band from the New England state of Massachusetts already had a clear vision to carve out their own musical claim. The conceptual idea behind the crazy world of BONGINATOR appeared very much to revolve around a bunch of stoner kids taking on a horde of blood-thirsty aliens and then embarking on an intergalactic road trip to the darkest corners of the universe. Despite a calendar filled with shows, BONGINATOR also found the time to create a new milestone in their fast-rising career. "Retrodeath" takes everything further to far out, gleefully stitches together something new, something old, something borrowed, and a lot of things bold, but somehow manages to make sense of what sounds insane. Full weed ahead!