ALBUM REVIEW: Ravenous Death – Chapters Of An Evil Transition

Here I review the debut album from Ravenous Death, hailing from Mexico and playing some gnarly old school Death Metal. This release is due out on Memento Mori Records on January 21st!

1. Prelude To Evilness opens with creepy vocals over melodic guitars and some random drum hits that set a nice eerie atmosphere for what I am hoping to be some crushing Death Metal or Death-Doom. The main lead riffs is really catchy but also haunting and overall this was a pretty cool little introduction.
2. Doomed To Exist kicks right into decimating blast beats, frenzied tremolo riffing and gruesome growls. The awesomely obliterating attack of the song is a nice upbeat assault of some sheerly epic old school Death Metal. There are some tinges of Black Metal about this material too that add to the chaotic and furious vibe of the song that is nicely dismal and a really killer way to properly open the album. The more melodic sides of the music really accentuate the groovy and menacing rhythm sections nicely. This was a solid track!
3. Harvesting Hate drops us head first into more brutish and primal Death Metal madness, with an impressive opening scream from the vocalist. There is a really nice fusion of older and more modern Death Metal styles utilised by the band who create some ridiculously heavy tracks yet keep them concise and make sure everything is impactful. There are some nice thrashy riffs in here that make you want to headbang, something I think most Metal bands strive to. The lead guitar work was pleasantly soulful and melodic, which actually took me by surprise as I was expecting more of a shred solo for this track, great stuff!
4. Evil Dementia (The Voices Of The Nobodies) brings yet more decimating riffs, blast beats and hideously epic vocals. The drum fills sound killer before dropping layers of groove from the whole band that just tear through some glorious Death Metal. The guttural vocals have a really unique sound to them that seemingly scrapes, I guess it is hard to describe but really awesome and certainly interesting. This track was monstrously heavy and grotesque, by far the best yet for me.
5. Awakening Of The Damned has some really gnarly riffs right from the start. The grisly attack of the drums and morbidity within the sounds directly follows from the last track with equal splendour. This album for me, seems to have improved with each song so far. The blistering attack of the instrumentals with harrowing vocals that are malevolent and unsettling create the perfect Death Metal experience wrapped in a pretty standardised and formulated manner that works really well for the band. The last section was super groovy, really catchy and just incredible to listen to. Excellent!
6. Cursed Origin once more goes right to business with brutal instrumentals that lay waste to everything in sight. The beautifully built up track drops into absolute ferocity with some stunningly epic and devastatingly heavy assaults. This is some pretty primal and hateful music that sounds absolutely gorgeous. The guitar harmonies work amazingly to create a nice wide sound and there are some really memorable riffs throughout. Really enjoyed the whammy dive driven solo with some cool shreds thrown in too. Wicked track!
7. Initiation Ritual grinds out more melodic riffing that has a really sick 90s vibe to the sound. The drums have been suitably unrelenting and this song is no exception. The groovy and tight sound is just so furious. Once more the band offer some pretty chaotic and grotesque death barrages at us which offer total battery to the ears. Fantastic track with some nice Grindcore influence and convulsive rhythms to it.
8. The Sinister Being draws in with some cool lead work that is chilling while everything around it builds into seemingly more doomy territory. Everything comes to fruition in this gnarly and gruesome flurry of sheer decimation with some really epic drum and guitar work shining through beautifully. The whiplash rhythm of the song reminds me of some older Kataklysm material but taken to a much darker and heavier place. This piece was crushing and absolutely insane. Amazing song with some gorgeous Doom Metal elements to it!
9. Soul Condemned By The Occult follows with slamming drums, atmospheric riffing and just more tastefully hideous Death Metal. This time around we are given a touch more dissonance that allows the following grinding attacks to have far more impact and a much more malignant feel to them. This piece not only is incredibly heavy but also really catchy with a gorgeous solo too. The songwriting on this song was absolutely fantastic, great work!
10. Massacre Cult is the finale to the terrific album. Driving in the nail with more groovy and noisy assaults this promises to be one last epic bout into Death Metal ferocity. The fantastic crawling song has some epic leads and a piercing tone, this track is razor sharp. A totally great way to lead out the album, with one last smattering of total brutality and a final awesome song. Absolutely killer material and a sick ending!

This album was a solid slab of old school Death Metal worship, delivering what it promised. There was nothing particularly out of the usual here for me, but nonetheless it did exactly what it should. This is some killer Metal with awesome songwriting and memorable tracks throughout. Certainly worth checking out! -7/10