Domains : "Sinister Ceremonies"

After making a few best of the year so far lists I decided to check these guys out.It pretty straight up death metal right at the speed demonic nature of the double bass and the mean riffs that still retain hooks to them.This Spanish Death metal band has been around since 2005 , but this is their first full length. They have used the 9 years wisely to perfect their craft , though their former drummer is now the guitarist.

This is somewhere between Morbid Angel and Incantation.The opener does what most metal openers do and kicks the door down. The punchy follow up is "Mastery". The vocal delivery reminds me of old pre-Beneath the Remains, Sepultura. It's a lower to mid range rasp. The use of soloing helps to establish more melodic elements in a otherwise straight forward riff barrage. Not as grinding as some death metal it holds a certain 90's groove.

There is a more dramatic horror movie spookiness to the riff opening "Through Infernal Damnation". There are elements here that remind me of Vader. These guys are trying to write actual songs and not just get away with being as heavy as possible.There is an almost rabid feeling at the onset of "Raped By Darkness". The effects that coat the vocals arrival keep it evil. The more doom laden stomp that brings the song to an end is pretty tough stuff.

They spent the first half of the album using restraint when it comes to speed and some of that is sacrificed on "Eucharist of Relevance". They make for this with the excellently crafted riff to "Crowned At Dusk". It carries an almost Dissection type of darkness to it.
"Towards Pleroma" is the title track from their 2009 demo. It is a rawer song, but still has a good catchy melodic section. I can see why fans of old school death metal are going bat shit for this, but then again metal heads that get stuck in certain era's will over look originality. They nail the old death metal guitar tone , but their is a fuzziness to it that could stand to catch up with the times in terms of heft production wise.They start to slow things down at the beginning of "Labyrinth of Incense" , but can't resist the urge for long to jack the double bass up and often it resembles something closer to black metal than any of the other songs on this album, as well as offers a wider dynamic range of sounds.They creep around with some slower more moody sections. They close things out with the title track that holds up the heaviness established earlier on the album, soemtimes creating a more Bathory like epic , that is when Bathory goes for the most straightforward approach devoid of any folk elements.Early Death can also be heard hear , like from Scream Bloody Gore era. I'll give this one a 8.5 ,as it is well written and played, so I guess the big deal with this album is that most death metal trying to capture this sort of thing is not very well written?