...SIŁA I PIĘKNO MUZYKI TKWIĄ W JEJ RÓŻNORODNOŚCI


..::OPIS::..

Abhordium's When Depravity Incarnates is an extremely positive surprise in virtually every respect. Death metal in general seems like a genre flogged to death by gazillions of more or less crappy bands in the recent years, and this particular album brings were little innovation to the table. It has not been released by a label, and in a world deluged by independent releases of questionable quality, creating a full-length indie release is both financial gambling and, too often, an artificial support for the musicians' egos.

However, in this case, everything seems to click to place in a surprising way, and the album is a very enjoyable piece of controlled chaos, and manages to renew the traditional genre, but without turning to commercial crap or disrespecting the classic rules of death metal. Even the packaging, a very nice looking digipack, with creepily innovative band member pictures and overall well-designed looks, promises something that deviates from the flow of mediocre works in the genre.

The music on When Depravity Incarnates is almost pure death metal, with a traditional but modernized sound, dashes of brutality, and the chaotic essence of the genre well under control. The riffing is extremely well executed, rapid, and sounds somewhat like a modernized, sped-up Altars of Madness. And that is what death metal should be about. The songs are logical and flow extremely well, but still retain the vital chaotic battering whirlwind of true death metal, with absolutely no core influence whatsoever; the songs are carried mostly by the wonderful guitar-work, and that's exactly how it should be. Rule #1 of death metal: riffs before everything!

The vocals are basic death growls, the drumming is almost exceptionally faithful to the conventions of the genre, and the bass serves the greater good as it should. There's a scent of brutal death metal in the air, but that's mostly because the album takes the traditional death metal to the extreme, and has a brutality of the original kind, without the annoying characteristics of the modern run-of-the-mill brutal death. Some of the rapid riffing also carries a mildly blackened feel to it, as do the vocals and lyrics on the last track, "Abyss Portal", even if the music stays true to death metal.

Production-wise the album is close to perfect. The sound is thick, but not Hi-Fi, and just the drums get a bit buried by the combined efforts of the guitars and vocals occasionally. However, even the production respects the original definition of death metal, and there's simply nothing to whine about… this is a very good album. For an independent release, When Depravity Incarnates is a very professional and credible package in every way. Most death metal albums released by labels nowadays is much less enjoyable than Abhordium on this fine piece of work, and even if there's nothing new on the album, the extreme traditionalism and purity of death metal is easily enough to make this a worthwhile purchase.

And finally, the band displayed some original innovation in their marketing efforts. Going around a festival area and selling the album out of a backpack to random metalheads drinking beer on the lawn is a traditional method to spread independent releases. However, the simple addition of an MP3 player and quality headphones for some quick sampling was quite enough to convince yours truly of the bargain.

When Depravity Incarnates is a worthy purchase for anyone into traditional death metal taken into one kind of extreme. It's also a schoolbook example of how to release an independent album the right way. Listen and learn!

Napero



..::TRACK-LIST::..

1. Cursed Phenomenon 04:30
2. Plague Upon Plague 03:25
3. Circulation of the Stygian Winds 04:02
4. Depravity Withering 03:00
5. Shades of the Horns 03:57
6. Dormant Mind 03:52
7. Chaos Mantra (Part. I) 05:32
8. Like the Ruins Betokeneth (Part. II) 04:33
9. Abyss Portal 06:49



..::OBSADA::..

Arttu Aalto - drums
Kari Laaksonen - vocals
Jarkko Neuvonen - guitars/bass




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft1akf4VCGM



SEED 15:00-22:00.
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