San Francisco gore metal outfit CARTILAGE have premiered a new track, "The Sanguine Fiend," via Toilet ov Hell, the first cut shared from the band's upcoming third full-length, "Operating Altar," due September 11 via Everlasting Spew Records.
"Operating Altar" marks CARTILAGE's first concept album, following a mad surgeon's ongoing atrocities at the fictional St. Petersen's University Hospital. Vocalist Mark Wallace and guitarist/vocalist Teresa Flory bring their trademark dual gurgle-and-shriek attack to the record with what the band describes as newly theatrical flourish, backed by the band's usual blitz of blast beats and tremolo-driven riffing. The album was recorded and mixed by Scott Evans (NEUROSIS, EXHUMED, AUTOPSY) and mastered by Leon del Muerte, with cover art from David Romero of Cinemamind.
Describing "The Sanguine Fiend," Wallace offered characteristically alliterative flavor text: "Symposium slathering selfish surgeon's symbols strewn sequentially in this sinister serial slasher hymn."
Toilet ov Hell, hosting the premiere, placed the track in the lineage of CARCASS and EXHUMED while noting CARTILAGE's own spin on the style: "Razor-sharp riffs, pummeling percussion, and a dual gurgle/shriek vocal attack are nothing novel, but on 'The Sanguine Fiend' we are treated to thrashy technicality and constant shifts in tempo."
CARTILAGE will hit the road just days after the album drops, joining Washington, D.C. act GOETIA alongside DEGRAVED and UNIDAD TRAUMA for the band's most extensive run yet — a trek through the western U.S. and into Mexico.
CARTILAGE tour dates w/ GOETIA:
- Sept. 15 – San Diego, CA – Tower Bar
- Sept. 16 – Tijuana, MX – República De Hops
- Sept. 17 – Los Angeles, CA – Slipper Clutch
- Sept. 18 – Fresno, CA – Summer Fox Brewery
- Sept. 19 – San Francisco, CA – Mabuhay Gardens
- Sept. 20 – Eureka, CA – Savage Henry's
- Sept. 22 – Olympia, WA – The Crypt
- Sept. 23 – Spokane, WA – Big Dipper
- Sept. 24 – Seattle, WA – Central Saloon (no GOETIA)
- Sept. 25 – Portland, OR – High Water Mark (no GOETIA)
Stream: "The Sanguine Fiend"