Restless power erupting in sun-fire torrents
Though three years between releases isn't all that much, it felt like forever when it took so long for Danish technical death metal practitioners Defilementory to release their debut album after the phenomenal Infatuated With Deformity EP from 2011. What originally made them stand out was the prominent bass work, and the fact that they so finely balanced their levels of brutality and technicality in a mix which was both impressive and extremely enjoyable.
Infatuated With Deformity was, for all intents and purposes, pretty straight forward, and so it comes as somewhat of a surprise that their first full length album, The Dismal Ascension, takes on the guise of something a bit more esoteric, leaning closer to the likes of Gorguts or even Deathspell Omega. But while the group has adopted this more dissonant atmosphere, they don't make the transition without looking back a bit. Misanthropic Emancipation, as an example, features some fairly interesting use of sliding riffs and popping bass amidst ruthless slams.
Infatuated With Deformity was, for all intents and purposes, pretty straight forward, and so it comes as somewhat of a surprise that their first full length album, The Dismal Ascension, takes on the guise of something a bit more esoteric, leaning closer to the likes of Gorguts or even Deathspell Omega. But while the group has adopted this more dissonant atmosphere, they don't make the transition without looking back a bit. Misanthropic Emancipation, as an example, features some fairly interesting use of sliding riffs and popping bass amidst ruthless slams.
"...raw quarries of primitive slams,"
The album has everything you could want, but the four title-tracks that serve as the pièce de résistance especially sums up everything Defilementory are capable of. From raw quarries of primitive slams to structures that, while they at first may sound simple, are sprawling deltas of blazing melodies and weirdly disharmonic themes, Defilementory's debut album is a release that both hails the greats of old and seeks new territory.
Brutal death metal can often come off as clumsy and thuggish, but these Danes are deliberate and precise in pacing and execution. Where technical death metal often has intricasy at the cost of listenability, the Danish band prove themselves to be masters of songwriting and flow. There are a few scattered occurances where things get a bit out of hand, with the usual groove being drowned out by overly atmospheric un-harmonies, but these brief moments - such as on In Soullessness - Supremacy - are both outnumbered and outclassed by far more memorable material on the remainder of The Dismal Ascension.
Brutal death metal can often come off as clumsy and thuggish, but these Danes are deliberate and precise in pacing and execution. Where technical death metal often has intricasy at the cost of listenability, the Danish band prove themselves to be masters of songwriting and flow. There are a few scattered occurances where things get a bit out of hand, with the usual groove being drowned out by overly atmospheric un-harmonies, but these brief moments - such as on In Soullessness - Supremacy - are both outnumbered and outclassed by far more memorable material on the remainder of The Dismal Ascension.
8/10
Released in 2014 by Torture Music Records
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