Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway

---

Without a question or doubt, Vienna, Austria’s PUNGENT STENCH were (are?) one of extreme metal’s most unique entities.

The band’s origins begin in 1988 with the pseudonym-bearing trio of guitarist/ vocalist Martin “Don Cochino” Schirenc, bassist  Jacek “Pitbull Jack” Perkowski, and drummer Alex “Rector Stench” Wank.

PUNGENT STENCH quickly garnered interest from fans of death metal for their groove-heavy music and controversial lyrics, a seamless blend of gore, paraphilia, and black comedy. It was not long before labels began displaying an interest in signing the band, with that honor eventually going to the Germany-based Nuclear Blast Records.

Between 1988 and 1990, the band would issue the ‘Mucous Secretion’ demo and ‘Extreme Deformity’ EP, as well as be included on splits with Disharmonic Orchestra (their first release for Nuclear Blast) and Benediction.

The band’s first official full-length, ‘For God Your Soul…For Me Your Flesh’, arrived via the label in 1990, and extreme metal would never be the same.

Quite raw and primitive, it showed the band favoring simple song structures and visceral, demented grindcore aggression, over technical skill, and over-complicated highlights. At the time, PUNGENT STENCH was already a well-seasoned live act, having shared bills with bands like Carcass, Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror, Entombed, Prong, and more.

A limited-edition, 1000 copy Japanese EP, 屍臭, was released through Brandnew Sunshine in 1991, but before the year was out, the trio would release their landmark opus. ‘Been Caught Buttering’ is considered one of metal’s most scathing albums, a crushing homage to extremity in all areas, from music and lyrics to imagery and beyond.

In fact, many people found the imagery and photos adorning PUNGENT STENCH‘s releases shocking and controversial. Their album covers and inserts reflected lyrical themes presented by the band on record, including coprophagia, rape, and deviance in general.

PUNGENT STENCH would continue to release extraordinarily over-the-top music, gradually incorporating more groove metal elements and other influences. Its output at this time included the 1993 releases, ‘Video La Muerte’ VHS and the techno/ dance music-laden ‘Dirty Rhymes And Psychotronic Beats’ EP.

With 1994 came another fan-favorite album from Nuclear Blast, ‘Club Mondo Bizarre’, a heavyweight of both oddity and obscenity.

PUNGENT STENCH remained active at this point, but releases were a bit limited with only the 1997 compilation ‘Praise The Names Of The Musical Assassins’ and a two-song split with Benediction in 2001. The split was a precursor for the band’s full-length that year, ‘Masters Of Moral – Servants Of Sin’, its first album to feature a new member, bassist Mario “Reverend Mausna” Klausner.

Klausner’s tenure as bassist for the band was short-lived, as their 2004 release on Nuclear Blast, ‘Ampeauty’, featured four-stringer Fabio Testi. The lyrical content for this record was more fetish-oriented than on the previous albums, with many songs focusing on acrotomophilia and apotemnophilia.

Although unknown at the time, this would be the final official recording from PUNGENT STENCH. There was a new album recorded between 2006 and 2007 titled ‘Smut Kingdom’, but it would not see the light of day at that time. The duo of El Cochino and Mr. Stench had left Nuclear Blast about a year before its recording and, for whatever reasons, pulled the plug on PUNGENT STENCH in 2007.

In 2013, Martin “Don Cochino” Schirenc (by this time in acts Hollenthon, Mudbreed, and Zombie, INC.) attempted to restart PUNGENT STENCH. This somehow led to a legal dispute over the use of the band’s name, one eventually resulting in Martin’s morphing things to Schirenc Plays Pungent Stench for some live performances.

Now, here we are in 2018 and some welcome news concerning PUNGENT STENCH has arrived from Dissonance Productions. Wank and Schirenc have settled their differences over the band name, along with winning the rights back for all the band’s old albums. Upon signing to Dissonance Productions, their last work, the unreleased ‘Smut Kingdom’ will finally see the light of day on April 13, 2018, along with the re-issue of ‘Ampeauty’ later this year.

Tracklist
01. Aztec Holiday
02. Persona Non Grata
03. Devil’s Work
04. Brute
05. King Of Smut
06. Suicide Bombshell
07. Opus Dei
08. I Require Death Sentence
09. Me Gonzo
10. Planet Of The Dead

 

2018, Death Metal, Dissonance Productions, Grind, Nuclear Blast, Old-School Sunday, Pungent Stench