Release Date June 26th, 2026
Format 2CD/LP/Digital
Genre Death Metal
Origin Austria
Pungent Stench formed in Vienna, Austria, in 1988 and became one of the defining names of the early European death metal underground. The classic line up for “Been Caught Buttering” featured Martin Schirenc on guitars and vocals, Alex Wank on drums, and Jacek Perkowski on bass. Their music quickly separated itself from the more straightforward brutality coming from the American scene, mixing filthy death metal with an unusual Rock influence, grotesque subject matter, and an aesthetic that was every bit as important as the riffs. Originally released in 1991 through Nuclear Blast Records, “Been Caught Buttering” became one of the cult records of the early nineties, developing a reputation far beyond its underground beginnings.
The album is also inseparable from Joel Peter Witkin’s infamous cover artwork, “The Kiss”, featuring the divided head of a corpse arranged in a disturbing imitation of an embrace. It remains the greatest front cover in death metal history, an image so provocative and artistically striking that it has become part of the album’s legend. Pungent Stench would later explore different directions, especially on subsequent releases, making this second album an especially important point in their history.
“Been Caught Buttering” is filthy, grotesque, and deeply rooted in the early nineties death metal sound, with buzzsaw guitars, pounding drums, prominent bass, and vocals that sound like they were dragged through a sewer. The production, recorded and mixed at Donnersound Studio in August 1991, preserves the raw character of the era while allowing the riffs and drums to remain distinct enough for the music to hit properly.
The songwriting has an unusual Rock undercurrent, woven into the death metal without taking away its gruesome atmosphere. Tracks such as “Games Of Humiliation”, “Brainpan Blues”, “And Only Hunger Remains” and “Sick Bizarre Defaced Creation” represent the album’s warped mixture of groove, brutality, and macabre humour. The lyrical world is deliberately repulsive, dealing with mutilation, death, bodily horror, and depravity with absolutely no attempt to make the subject matter comfortable.
The remastered edition adds an extensive collection of live recordings, restoring this important release for a newer generation while preserving its historical character. “Been Caught Buttering” remains a cult death metal classic, one of those records where the music, artwork, atmosphere, and underground reputation have become inseparable. The cover may be the greatest front cover in death metal history, and although the music does not quite reach the same legendary level as that image, the album itself remains a major early nineties reference point and an essential piece of Pungent Stench history.
|9.0
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