Talk about getting punched in the face and asking for more. Teratoma presents on Longing Veracity some barebones, dirty, old-school death metal that just plain crushes. It's kind of muddy at times, but oftentimes the guitars are just crunchy and razor sharp, slicing through the speakers and coming for your eardrums. The overall atmosphere is dark, but there's nonetheless some catchiness popping up here and there, with some guitar and drum parts just begging you to break out the air guitar or the air drumsticks. When it's not that, it's just pinning you to the ground and crushing you flat. I get a hell of a lot of death metal albums coming my way over the course of a year, and this one, despite not being revolutionary in any way, stands out for some reason that I can't really pinpoint. It just crushes. But I said that already.