Tuesday 25 June 2013

Zombiefication - At The Caves of Eternal (Album Review)



















Album Type : Full Length
Date Released : 8/4/2013
Label : Pulverised Records

At The Caves of Eternal, album track listing:

1. At The Caves Of Eternal
2. Disembodied Souls
3. Soul Collector
4. In The Mist
5. Passage Of Darkness
6. In The Gallery Of Laments
7. The Crypt
8. In The Shadowed Garden
9. Slaves Whisper Your Name

Bio:
Hideous, verminous and even more sinisterly darker than ever, the soulless undead ZOMBIEFICATION have returned to spread the infestation with the band's follow-up effort “At The Caves Of Eternal”!

Incised and drained into nine disquieting tracks, “At The Caves Of Eternal” is a clear exemplification of the band emerging and finally shaping into their very own evocative attributes of a classic ZOMBIEFICATION trademark; bone-chilling melodies and slabs of Death / Doom fretwork so rancid that the contrasting union is instantly recognizable.

Recorded at Revolution Studios in Mexico by Jesús Bravo and once again mixed and mastered at Necomorbus Studio (Watain, Demonical, Desultory, etc) in Sweden by Tore Stjerna. Visual artwork, layout and concept masterminded by Mr. Hitchcock

Line-up:

Mr. Jacko - Bass, Guitars
Mr. Hitchcock, Vocals

Review
Furious Death and Doom from Mexico. That is what Zombiefication offer up with extra melody and an almost black metal-esque vocal approach in places. The title track lays out the band's wares effectively as BM type riffing cross breeds with DM aggressiveness. “Disembodied Souls” Keeps up this approach but with a little groove.

Soul Collector” features an excellent solo and some real throat shredding vocals. Again, some of the guitar work evokes Dissection or other Scandi-BM. “In The Mist” kicks off Motorhead style, adding maybe a touch of punk to proceedings. The solo section is a treat, again, the gruesome twosome play tight and controlled metal of the highest order.

Passage of Darkness” gives us some beastly doomy chords to open and this slow funereal pace sets the atmosphere nicely. The vocal is almost Crowbar like in its drawn out approach and the riff work under it is stellar. Not until after the first verse does the band break into walking pace, quickly dropping back to true doom territory for the solo then alternating effectively between the two.

In the Gallery Of Laments” starts with as mournful a riff as the title suggests before breaking into a wholly unexpected feel then accelerating upwards from there. There are more twists and turns in tempo and riffs (often underpinned with the lead similar to the opening  refrain- a neat trick).

The Crypt” is an altogether faster affair- but still comes replete with wistful riffing amidst the thrash and stomp. “In The Shadowed Garden” keeps the BM flavour going, with some nice organic drum work (played the old school way- good).

Slaves Whisper Your Name” clocks in as the longest track, but is also oddly the fastest in places. The band run through the gears effectively here with memorable riffs and melodies from the guitars combining with a rather eerie atmosphere to really deliver the album's piece de resistance, if you will. The record finishes with doomy style after the pace drops.

Zombiefication, with their two piece line-up and Mexican provenance, offer something genuinely different here- perhaps in the same way that Sepultura did back in the late 80's. They are a death metal band, but with a large slab of doom and a good dose of Scandinavian style black metal too. Thus, the band are unique and should be checked out by fans of the three genres mentioned here. There will be something for you all to enjoy.

Words by : Richard Maw

As ever, show your support to the band by checking them out at the various links.  You can buy this release here. This record is available now. Thanks as always to Jan @ Sureshotworx