One of the classic "no frills" American death metal bands, Chicago's Broken Hope have never been a band to show any quarter, even if they're equally disinclined to show fans a new look at any point, either. So you know what you're getting going into any new Broken Hope album: tuneful yet blistering riffs, fiendishly monster vocals and frequent blast beats alternating like clockwork with slower breakdown passages. Mutilated and Assimilated is the band's second album since their 2012 reunion, and it improves upon 2013's Omen of Disease not through reinvention but wholly in terms of quality material. One of the groups most essential albums in years.