Not many who hear this album will realize the significance of the track ‘St. Augustine, FL 1896’ but with the Good Doctor’s abiding interest in cryptozoology and all things bizarre, I immediately recognized what this date and time meant. That was when the carcass of some enormous sea beast washed up on the Floridian shore, with many believing it to be the body of a titanic octopus. Ah ha, so DIPYGUS are kindred spirits! That’s confirmed by the title of the next song here, ‘The Khunjung Scalp’, which is the purported scalp of the Himalayan Yeti. Yessir, DIPYGUS, whoever they are, are students of the strange!
They also play a diseased and crude form of icky death metal much in the vein of AUTOPSY and IMPETIGO. Not only are these sickos interested in cryptozoology, but they have an unhealthy interest in gruesome diseases and cannibalism. Bushmeat is a term for monkeys and apes killed for meat, a subject that makes me angry and sick to my stomach. So these cats are extra weird. If you like death metal that has a loose and sloppy feel with plenty of doomy overtones and raw production, this will be worth a look. ‘Plasmoidal Mass’ (Slime Mold) is an instrumental where DIPYGUS come at you with a wide variety of flattening riffs. ‘Long Pig Feast’, an ode of cannibalistic consumption, has a strangely ritualistic feel similar to DEATH’s ‘Zombie Ritual’ while ‘Myiasis In Human Mouth’, which refers to the charming subject of maggot infestation in the oral cavity, is just a bone-breaking onslaught of aggression.
As to the band’s own name, that refers to the rare condition of being born with four legs. Well, four legs will give you more power to mosh to this sick shit from this mysterious bunch. The band’s music is good enough, but their subject matter elevates this greatly if you’re into the unknown.
Review By: Dr. Abner Mality
DIPYGUS
Bushmeat
Memento Mori Records
3.5 / 6