Stagnated is a brutal death metal band hailing from the Indonesian city of Malang. I remember being impressed by their 2017 EP. It was unpolished, but they played pretty nice Suffocation worship. Six years later, they released their first full-length album, Persecuted Insanity. If you look closely, you will notice that the bloody head featured on their EP has the same face as the severed head on this album's cover. I thought that was a nice touch.
The music is harsh crimson brutality. The best part is drummer Azzanul Andriyanto, who I remember from Haram's Disgrace Satanic Brain. His many blast beats are pulverizing. The mid-paced rhythms are filled with stomach-churning double bass. All of these patterns are punctuated by elaborate fills. The snare also has a ringing metallic sound. That might be a turn-off for some people, but I didn't mind it.
The liner notes don't specify who did the vocals. Whoever did them put on a great performance. The gruesome growls sprew forth blood and bile. The guitars are handled by Rico Zerico, a former member of Anthropophagous Depravity. His palm-muted riffs are fiery and his tremolo riffs are sinister. His chugging riffs are crushing, and the slow-paced sections are made even more menacing by the pinch harmonics. There are also moments on songs like "Vermin of Wrath" when he plays more technical arrangements.
At just 23 minutes, this album is barely longer than a standard EP, but the intensity of the music makes up for it. This is tried and true brutal death metal. It crushes, it eviscerates, it shows no mercy.