By: Thomas Gonzales
Album Type: Full
Length
Date Released: 03/04/2020
Label: Lifeforce
Records
“III:Odor Mortis” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1).
Casting Fear
2).
Peitschenhieb
3).
Misery
4).
Beug Dich
5).
Sickness
6).
Amboss
7).
Arrival
8).
The Endless Night
9).
Nothingness
The Review:
Münster,
Germany extreme music “DIY-ers” Depravation
join metal label Lifeforce
Records for
the release of their 3rd full album, “III:Odor Mortis”.
Formed in 2011 Depravation are veterans of over 300
concerts across Europe, and multiple split collaborations spanning the musical
stylings of Hardcore to Death Metal. They have sown success in the underground
scene by sheer force of will, and the sweat from their collective brow; this relentless
pursuit of aggressive song crafting, are translated into what may be their most
brutal album to date.
Free
from the constraints of traditional Hardcore Punk and Crust, the framework for
their latest release leans heavily on their Blackened Death influences. Full of
aggressive blast beats, shrieking screams, and shredding riffs, “Odor
Mortis” is a pulse pounding exercise in heavy music composition. Amidst this slurry of genres, there are
elements of Doom Metal and Grindcore, creating a sludgy and noxious soniscape, like
moshing your way through a frozen field of viscera. It is cold, brutal, and nasty.
It’s
not all shredding riffs and pounding rhythms however, there are many “striking
grooves and eerie melodies” throughout, which help to move the listener along a
musical path. With “Sickness”, Depravation
slow things down for a (mostly) instrumental track, accented only by a
haunting denouncement of hatred spreading like a virus, choking out the light.
The interlude is the only real break throughout the album, and it does a great
job of setting off the final act. Concluding with pummeling drums, and
mournfully distorted guitar parts, it gives way to probably the Blackest song
on the record, “Amboss”. “Sickness” really feels like a
transitional piece, as the latter part of the album is Blacker and Doom-ier
than the more Hardcore start. It’s here that things seem to shift focus with
the themes of the album. “Nothingness”
closes things out a somber Doom piece embracing the reality that there is no
purpose, “nothingness unfolds”. It is bleak, and such a fantastic way to wind
things down after taking the listener on such a tumultuous journey.
“I: Praedictvm EP” (2012) & “II: Maledictvm”
(2013) are almost a decade in the past, and when you listen to them now, you
can hear all the pieces coming together. The elements have carried through each
project, and Depravation has acquired various
techniques from their collaborators, and blended them into the band you hear
today. Touring with Hardcore and Black Metal groups alike, has clearly
influenced their song writing and helped them to create something all their
own. Pick up “III: Odor Mortis” today from Lifeforce Records, and
while you’re at, blast your way through their previous works.
“III:
Odor Mortis” is available HERE
