Death is June - Blindfolded and Led to the Woods : 'Rejecting Obliteration "

It was death metal month back in 2021 when we first reviewed their previous album. This time the New Zealand based band, utilizes vocals that employ more of a hard core bark than what I remember from them before. What is certain is the fact these guys bring a more varied array of musical influences to the table than most death metal bands who sound like either Entombed, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse or Incantation, None of those bands seem to have much bearing on the musical DNA that brings their dark haunting brand of  catharsis to life. The album opens with the more speedy head first assault that is more common in the genre, but with an odd angularity to attack of guitars. They have technical prowess , but chose to manifest it in a manner that is not slave to orthodoxy. Midway into the first song they already begin to introduce cleaner guitar tones and melodic sonics. 

"Methlehem" is one of the better song titles this month. It is also punchy like a hard core band, until the speed up in a deafening blur. When the slow from the blasting into a stomping groove it is very effective. It is more effective when they give the song room to breathe on "Hallucinative Terror". Sure it speeds up into blast beaten hyper aggression, but done so with more colors than just an angry blood red stain. The title track however focuses more on the double bass attack and pounding your ears through the wall with it. They do use enough melodic moments to give the aural beating some contrast. It would be redundant to praise the drumming, as death metal needs this kind of drumming. Tim Stewart's best moments come when he knows to let up and groove on the ambiance. "Wraith" gives a good example of this in action . 

The eerie darkness that finds beauty in the ugly snarl of their more primal sound is the band's strength. The chaotic math-core like bursts of technical acrobatics at warp speed are not as rewarding if you are listening for songs. They do cram a great deal into two minutes for "Funeral Smiles" which works better than some of the more indulgent excess on this album. The dissonance that does appear works well when given a more melodic application. The songs are not sprawling compositions, never going over the seven minute mark, which for the scope of what they do is conservative use of time. The hard core pounding return between the math passages of "Hands of Contrition".  This is an interesting contrast to some of the more machine like grinding of gears the inter play of guitars and the drums create. The last song does not introduce any colors of sound to the carnage that have not at least been foreshadowed. It does have a great guitar solo. I guess given the band's flare for adventure and polishing of sound have earned this a 9, even when the twists and turns threaten to lose the song.