UK-based outfit Scumpulse were founded in the Edinburgh, Scotland in 2013 with the intention of playing crust punk with black metal undertones, but in the writing process for their debut EP, By Design, the black metal elements became more pronounced. Today, Scumpulse are best classified as a blackened grind band, a sound you’ll hear on “Rotten,” their latest single and music video.
Though Scumpulse have plenty of black metal in their sound, you won’t catch them adhering to all of the sub-genre’s norms. When describing Rotten, their debut full length, bassist Matt Dean says “It’s crusty and black but it’s really quite accessible by comparison, and dare I say… kinda catchy at points. Fuck trve cult.”
Though Scumpulse don’t completely revere black metal tradition, there are no love songs or bright topics to be found on Rotten.
“Feeling trapped in a mundane, dead end job that just led to a seemingly endless cycle of booze and misery is the crux of most of the album,” Dean confesses to Decibel.
Guitarist and singer Ross Necro cites Immortal as one of Scumpulse’s biggest influences, acknowledging that At the Heart of Winter and Sons of Northern Darkness are two of his largest influences when writing music.
“I adore the ability to write cold as balls black metal with pop rock song structures, catchy riffs and hooky lyrics,” he explains. “I always loved that they rejected that po-faced attitude most extreme metal bands have, which is something we’ve always tried to embrace ourselves. Playing in a band is supposed to be fun after all, if you’re miserable all the time, why bother?”
Scumpulse are having plenty of fun in the new video for “Rotten,” which you can watch below. The album is out February 23 through Gore House Productions.
