STABBING does not merely define the term, “Brutal Death Metal” - they exceed it. The Houston Texas foursome has plundered the crypts of claustrophobia and darkness, only to surface with Eon of Obscenity, STABBING’s Century Media debut and a benchmark for modern death metal. “It’s just more extreme,” says vocalist Bridget Lynch, when asked to define the band’s infernal sub-genre, Brutal Death Metal (AKA B.D.M.). “It’s everything that’s extreme about death metal, just taken a little bit further. The vocals. The drums. The riffs. It’s just faster and more boundary-pushing.”
When STABBING came together in 2021, the goals were simple. “We were really just having fun and wanted to emulate the style of the bands we really liked,” says Lynch. “Old school 90’s and early 2000’s brutal death metal bands like. Disgorge, Deeds of Flesh, stuff like that.” Coming from local bands and projects including guitarist Marvin Ruiz’s Nephilim Grinder and Dysmetria with Lynch dabbling in area grindcore outfits, from their first demo and 2021’s Ravenous Psychotic Onslaught EP, it was clear that STABBING was immediately pushing boundaries. On the road they distinguished themselves, giving tour mates including Defeated Sanity more than a run for their money. Not only was STABBING a bloody, clear-cut step above most, they wrapped it all in songs and blistering live performances that were as memorable as they were bellicose and brutal.
STABBING’s reckoning moment came in November 2023, as first band on for the “Ancient Unholy Rising Tour” with co-headliners Incantation and band favorites, Suffocation. Not only had STABBING’s lineup begun to solidify with then newly joined bassist Matt Day, but when Suffocation vocalist Ricky Meyers had fallen ill and had to miss a string of shows, it was Lynch who stepped in to save the day. STABBING’s vocalist simply took the stage with the New York death metal legends and gave the absent Meyers a run for his guttural money. “That was one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to do,” states Bridget. “Suffocation was one of the first death metal bands I ever got into as a fan, so jumping onstage and blasting through maybe six songs was a crazy moment. I was terrified when they asked!”
It was also on that tour that the band also caught the ear of Century Media Records who inked the band several months later. With a string of shows in 2023 and 2024 including landmark appearances at the celebrated Maryland Deathfest and Milwaukee Metalfest, as well as a U.S. tour with 200 Stab Wounds, Ruiz (who also plays with Texas Brutal Death Metal, OG’s Devourment) started putting together riffs that would serve as the foundation of Eon of Obscenity. Compared to Stabbing’s more primal origins, Eon of Obscenity. is a clearcut next step that elevates not only the band, but the genre itself. From the outset of opener, “Rotting Eternal” straight into “Inhuman Torture Chamber”, which showcases Lynch’s inhuman vocal prowess and ability to shift gears from the guttural to something chittering that barely registers as human, STABBING have taken their brutal arts to new heights. Even the album’s instrumental inclusion, “Ruminations” shows an unexpected technicality as riffs and time-signatures coalesce in unexpected ways.
Recorded at Houston’s Southwing Audio by engineer Ben Gott with Chris Kritikos mixing and mastering, the production of Eon of Obscenity is as strident as the music itself. It’s eleven tracks that are as raw as they are extreme. “It feels more refined,” says the vocalist. “The album shows the potential of what the band started as. It’s not overly produced. There’s not a lot of effects or over-editing. We wanted to keep the raw sound that the classic bands had. We wanted to go for that, for something very honest and very us.” The album title itself also ties into Eon of Obscenity being not merely a second album from STABBING but a massive step forward.
“It’s representative of this being a new era for the band,” Lynch states. “An improvement of the STABBING sound and us as musicians. On the last album [2022’s Extirpated Mortal Process], I wasn’t really happy with what I did vocally," she admits, "And I really wanted to really improve. One of my favorite songs on the album is called ‘Reborn to Kill Once More’, which sums up how good and how strong we feel about the band and the album now.”
Being one of the rare female voices in modern death metal isn’t lost on Bridget. She’s quick to admit that she approaches lyrics and delivery in a way that differs from most. “When I was in high school, first getting into brutal death metal, I discovered the band, Cerebral Bore” she recounts. “When I saw that they had a female singer, I was like, ‘What the hell?’ I was like, I have to be that! I had to emulate her. I was so inspired. My hope is that when people, particularly younger girls hear STABBING for the first time, we have that same effect on them.
“It’s pretty obvious that metal, in general, has been pretty male dominated,” Lynch states. “I won’t really entertain the misogyny of brutal death metal in what we do, for obvious reasons. I try to turn it around. One of our older songs is about the first female serial killer I ever read about, Aileen Wournos. If you look at other female-led death metal bands like Castrator or Emasculator, they also try to turn the tables and present things from a different perspective.”
With Eon of Obscenity, the Texas four-piece have delivered on everything their earlier releases and live shows have hinted at. B.D.M. has an unmistakably brutal new voice and it is STABBING. “I never expected it, there is a new wave of slam bands and brutal death metal bands,” says Bridget. “But I never thought people would think of us as an important band to that or any other scene! We have younger bands come up to us all the time and say, ‘Your first demo really inspired us,’ and that blows my mind. I never thought my brutal death metal band would have that kind of impact.”
Line-Up:
Matt Day - Bass Guitar
Aron Hetsko - Drums
Bridget Lynch - Lead Vocalist
Marvin Ruiz - Guitar
Special Guests:
Guest vocals by Ricky Myers (SUFFOCATION) on "Nauseating Composition"
Cover Artist: Rudi Yanto
Credits:
Recorded at Houston’s Southwing Audio by engineer Ben Gott
Mixed and mastered by Chris Kritikos
Discography:
Extirpated Mortal Process (2022)
Links:
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
SPOTIFY
APPLE MUSIC
