Hacked Up for Barbecue (CD - Blue Disc)

HELLS HEADBANGERS is proud to reissue MORTICIAN's cult-classic debut full-length album Hacked Up for Barbecue, on jewel case CD, featuring a blue disc and an 8-page booklet with a refreshed layout overseen by the band.

MORTICIAN's debut full-length arrives like a battering ram coated in blood and distortion, yet there is a strange joy to its chaos that fans of horror and heavy music instantly recognize. Hacked Up for Barbecue captures the band at a pivotal moment when their fusion of death metal, grindcore, and relentless horror worship finally crystallized into something unmistakably their own. Rather than smoothing their edges, they sharpened them and delivered an album that feels like flipping through an underground horror tape collection while the speakers vibrate under the weight of monstrous low end.

From the opening moments, MORTICIAN wastes no time establishing atmosphere. The horror samples work as grim invitations into each track, setting the stage for riffs that lunge forward with a crude but irresistible sense of momentum. Roger Beaujard’s guitar sound is huge and abrasive, built from simple patterns that strike with almost percussive force. The riffs often shift between frantic blasts and lurching slow crawls, creating a dynamic that stays engaging despite the album’s deliberately raw template.

Will Rahmer’s contributions form the core of the band’s identity. His bass tone is a subterranean roar and his vocals dive so deep into guttural territory that they become a physical presence more than a narrative one. Instead of telling stories outright, he becomes another instrument in the suffocating mix, turning each song into a haunted space where every sound competes for dominance. When the slower grooves hit, the combination of low bass, jagged guitar, and mechanized drums creates tension that feels almost cinematic.

The drum machine remains one of the most polarizing hallmarks of MORTICIAN's sound, yet on this record it serves the material with surprising efficiency. Its robotic precision amplifies the overall brutality, pushing the faster passages past the limits of human endurance while keeping the slower parts crushing and deliberate. Rather than distracting from the music, the programming helps define the album’s identity and gives it a cold, relentless pulse.

What makes Hacked Up for Barbecue especially enjoyable is its balance between brevity and weight. Some tracks explode and vanish within seconds, functioning like violent flashes cut into a longer film. Others stretch out enough to give the riffs space, showing the band’s knack for simple but memorable ideas. This contrast keeps the record from feeling monotonous and invites listeners to experience it as a full sequence rather than a collection of interchangeable bursts.

The love for horror cinema is not a gimmick here. The samples and titles contribute to an experience that feels curated, almost like a horror anthology presented through distorted loudspeakers. Even when the content dips into the absurd, the commitment to the theme makes it oddly charming. MORTICIAN clearly knows what they want to evoke and lean into it with absolute conviction.

Decades after its release, Hacked Up for Barbecue still stands as a defining moment for brutal deathgrind. Its charm lies not in complexity but in the purity of its vision. It is heavy, unapologetic, atmospheric, and far more infectious than its crude ingredients might suggest. For fans who appreciate extremity delivered with passion and personality, it remains a record worth revisiting and celebrating.

If this is the album where MORTICIAN truly carved their identity, they did so with a chainsaw rather than a scalpel, and the results are gloriously unforgettable.