If you are reading this review then I hope we are able to skip the history lesson on the mark this band made on the genre. They hit you will a full speed blast of death metal. 30 yers of doing what they do , it is clear they know how to do it. Does that mean the song writing is still going to be as inspired ? Out August 21st on Relapse Records. "Profane Nexus" felt a little dialed in to me, so I am going to weight this one against "Dirges of Elysium". That way I am only asking them to measure up to what they did six years ago instead of 30. It feels like there is more nuance and though put into the second song than the opener. It also leans more towards their death doom side. One thing about this is album is the guitar playing really shines. Production wise it is almost to polished and could use a little more bite in the tone.
Line up wise John McEntee remains the only original member, though the drummer has been around since "Mortal Throne of Nazerene". The album features the debut of Dismemberment guitarist Luke Shively. There are more dark melodic textures on this album than there were the previous one. This creates a dynamic balance on "Gaurdians of the Primeval". There are most twists and turns to this song. Deliberate riffing rather than just throwing out something heavy. These guys came from a time where just being heavy for the sake of being heavy did not cut it. This does not mean they have shelved all the aggression of death metal. There is more than enough in the attack of "Black Fathom's Fire" . The vocals are not obligatory, but they are not doing the lyrics any favors with the guttural grunts and gurgles. They compensate for this with more compelling song writing as the weave the darkness around you in " Ignis Fatuus".
It back to the bludgeoning on "Chant of Formless Dead" . I imagine a chant of the dead is closer than this. The need for speed blasts past what has made some of this album's more memorable moments. They create that same kind of atmospheric buzz of sonic wite noise some where around the 8th song and I begin to zone out and have to go back and check into the album. I am not sure I should listen to death metal until my second cup of coffee given the medication I take to go to bed. Though I can not imagine it is much different that someone doing a wake and bake with Indica. They simmer in a doomier direction with the lingering "Scribes of the Stygian". This lingering thwarts some of the moment, while I appricate the variance helping shift the over all dynamic range of the album it feels like they are tapping into more of a sound than a song. "Unborn Ambrosia" is a hilarious name for a song , the music is to be taken more seriously. At six minutes this is the album's longest song so there are not sprawling wanders off into the caverns. The have more than enough time to take you on a journey within these six minutes.
"Fury's Manifesto" lives up to it's name more than the ambrosia. It is relentless aggression. From the "but can you write a song side " of the equation the last song is a little better, while still being as utterly mean spirited. I will give this one an 8. It might not live up to " Dirges of Elysium" but it is a pretty soild display of what makes them still a vital force in death metal today. Out August 21st on Relapse
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