ALBUM REVIEW: Asphyx - "Incoming Death"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Lenth
Date Released: 30/09/2016
Label: Century Media Records

this is a fantastic Asphyx album and a ferocious beast of a record all around. It adds to the band's considerable legacy and confirms Asphyx as one of the very best operating in this arena. Indeed, such is their sound, they are in a category of one, really. I have always thought of them as being kind of the European equivalent to Obituary; cult favourites with a unique sound and style. This is indeed death/doom, done the brutal way.

‘Incoming Death’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Candiru

2. Division Brandenburg

3. Wardroid

4. The Feeder

5. It Came From The Skies

6. The Grand Denial

7. Incoming Death

8. Forerunners of the Apocalypse

9. Subterra Incognita

10. Wildland Fire

11. Death: The Only Immortal

The Review:

Asphyx return after the superb “Deathhammer” from a few years back. Van Drunen and co. are firing on all cylinders here. Asphyx are certainly a classic band- one of the first to really mix doom and death together and they have a certain viciousness which I have always found rather teutonic (rather than Dutch). It is business as usual for the opener “Candiru”; fast and furious, a thick sound that is a little warmer than its predecessor's production, but certainly no less deadly.

Naturally, after the fast paced pummelling comes the slower delivery of “Division Brandenburg”- ruthlessly heavy and with the Germanic sound that the title suggests. The band summon the sound of rolling tanks very effectively just as Bolt Thrower or Ravens Creed have done. “Wardroid” is also fantastically weighty and crushing. Over the course of the eleven tracks, the band don't put a foot wrong. The vocals are pleasingly as rough as ever, the band playing with authority.

The tempo kicks up several notches with “The Feeder”; the band barrelling along at Motorhead pace, dropping to half time when needed... and then dropping again. “It Came from the Skies” is a beast; a maelstrom of riffage and mid tempo groove. There are two tracks which go over into epic length territory; “The Grand Denial” is a veritable feast of doom/death at over seven minutes in length, with the final track, “Death: The Only Immortal” running over eight!

The rest of the album is a focused and toned listen with most tracks following actual song structures rather than the riff-soup approach of many death bands. The title track is particularly vicious and sprints by in under two minutes. Just as “Deathhammer's” title track was a stand out, as is “Incoming Death”. Awesome stuff.

“Forerunners of the Apocalypse” is another stomper of a riff and rhythm that is guaranteed to get your head banging. “Subterra Incognita” shifts the gears downwards again, giving a good ebb and flow to the album's structure. Unsurprisingly, “Wildland Fire” sounds exactly like its title; fantastic riffs, good use of tempo shifts and all in all, a late album stand out. The aforementioned “Death...” closes proceedings in epic style. Eight minutes of carefully balanced doom and death- with that monstrous bass sound pushed front and centre.

To sum up, this is a fantastic Asphyx album and a ferocious beast of a record all around. It adds to the band's considerable legacy and confirms Asphyx as one of the very best operating in this arena. Indeed, such is their sound, they are in a category of one, really. I have always thought of them as being kind of the European equivalent to Obituary; cult favourites with a unique sound and style. This is indeed death/doom, done the brutal way.

‘Incoming Death’ is available here

Band info: facebook

RIYL: Autopsy, Hail of Bullets, Bolt Thrower, Obituary