Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 17/04/2017
Label: Dark Descent Records
This new album does not disappoint, and capitalizes
on a lot of the germinal promise that was present in spades on “Towards
Eschaton”: zero bullshit, zero pretence, zero fucks metal. Vocally it is truly, truly spectacular and unique. Riffs are
dynamic. Bass is deeply discernible and the leads are crazy, fiery and have a
tone that reminds that metal solos can be a deadly weapon in the right hands,
like a flail made of scalpels and razor blades.
“The Shackles of Mammon” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Pyromancer
2). A Ripping Strike
3). Black Flame Divination
4). The Trudge
5). Dashed to Death
6). Mammon Est
7). Hunger
8). Tottering Cities of Men
The Review:
You know those albums you preorder after one track?
Yeah. This is one. I have been waiting for this since Dark Descent unleashed “A Ripping Strike”
back in late February, which I liked enough to buy their debut, “Towards
Eschaton”, and listened to it repeatedly over the intervening time period.
The full album does not disappoint, and capitalizes on a lot of the germinal
promise that was present in spades on “Towards Eschaton”: zero bullshit,
zero pretence, zero fucks metal. But it also does so in a way that shows a
huge step forward in concatenation of identity. The debut was full of exuberant
ideas. This album is the brutal execution of the best of those ideas.
Vocals here are truly, truly spectacular and unique.
Riffs are dynamic. Bass is deeply discernible everywhere and is given a
commanding role on several tracks. Songs vary from barn burners (“A Ripping
Strike”) to stalwart marches (“The Trudge”). Leads are
crazy, fiery and have a tone that reminds that metal solos can be a deadly
weapon in the right hands, like a flail made of scalpels and razor blades.
If you want to call this blackened thrash, go ahead.
If you want to make references to Destroyer
666, suit yourself. But the influences here are more varied, and the
sources of inspiration much more complex, so you are doing yourself no favours
by trying to simplify this densely woven sonic tapestry with lazy
comparisons. Listen to it openly, and the music will breathe hellish
volumes. Production is excellent. The album is varied, always engaging and cohesive.
Worthy of special note is the spectacular album art by Daniel Corcuera, which is a superb transformation
of Sascha Schneider’s ‘Mammon und
sein Sklave’ (1896). Well worth looking at the original in juxtaposition.
“The
Shackles of Mammon” is available here
Band info: facebook
