Full Album Stream: Castle Freak – “Savage Nights of the Castle Freak”

It has been exactly four years and two days since Castle Freak released their Human Hive EP, but who’s counting? The grinding death metal trio—featuring bassist Ben Anft (Noisem, No/Más), drummer Sebastian Phillips (Exhumed, Noisem) and guitarist/vocalist Andrew Gigan—have finally emerged from their crypt armed with a filthy, 15-song album, Savage Nights of the Castle Freak and it is well worth the wait.

It’s not clear what the members of Castle Freak have been up to in the time since their last release (other than, you know, touring the world with various projects), but it’s safe to assume that they weren’t studying scripture and attending Sunday mass. Savage Nights of the Castle Freak drips filth and sleaze: the bass punches you in the throat with each note and Gigan’s vocals could take the paint off of a wall. In many ways, it combines the best parts of Noisem and Philly locals Cape of Bats, who feature Gigan in their live lineup. The trio have no idea what “slow” means, avoiding songs over 2:45 like the plague. When they’re not blasting through breakneck riffs and singing tales of war, Castle Freak are grooving with the best of them.

Savage Nights of the Castle Freak is the culmination of almost 8 years of turmoil induced trials and tribulations,” Gigan tells Decibel about the album. “Through several breakups, lineup changes and years of development (both personally and artistically), Castle Freak has risen from the ashes to reveal its final form. Taking influence from Repulsion to Toxic Holocaust, from Duke Nukem to Junji Ito, Savage Nights of the Castle Freak is sure to please anyone with an adoration for violent pop-culture.

“Recorded at the Hotbox Audio Recording Facility (H.A.R.F. – Baltomore) in the early months of 2019, Savage Nights of the Castle Freak sat in development hell for over a year,” he admits. “After waiting what felt like an eternity, the decision was made to release the album on Bandcamp, no label, no strings attached, concluding a near-decade of doing it our way. All on our own. FFO; Repulsion, Toxic Holocaust, Autopsy, Impetigo.”

Dig in via Bandcamp below.