Here I review an early 2019 release from 20 Buck Spin, a label that put out some stellar releases in 2018. Let’s get right into the Death Metal madness with OSSUARIUM!
1. Intro starts things off with ambient sampling and feedback with some nice psychedelic effects that create a really strange and discomforting soundscape. A short but effective introduction.
2. Blaze Of Bodies drives right in with old school riffs, a gruesome vibe to them and blasting drums played to perfection. The grisly vocals are hideously tormenting while the full instrumental section feels gargantuan, hitting with total force. The guttural waves of purely epic Death Metal are rich with darkness and a primal aggression that is packing punches left right and centre. There is some gorgeous doomy elements to the convulsive guitars with drums that dissonantly echo out. Damn this is some killer material to start the with!
3. Vomiting Black Death grinds out more bellowing riffs with the hideously grim sounds perfectly coated in reverb. The discordance and natural uncomfortable feeling that comes from this music is absolutely perfect and filled with atmosphere. This is some of the most exciting and intimidating Death Metal I have heard in quite some time. The cascading darkness is gorgeous yet terrifying with a truly epic amount of dissonance. There is some nice groove to the piece but overall it stays within primal doomy Death Metal formula but with added discomfort. The guitar leads were simplistic but a gorgeous addition to the piece. Once more, some absolutely stunning work!
4. Corrosive Hallucinations fires out some absolutely stunning guitar, bass and drums with so much groove. The epic songwriting is catchy and totally headbang worthy. Each chord and drum beats hits like a sledgehammer to the face with monstrously monolithic Death Metal morbidity. The macabre vocals soon join, taking us back into the bowels of this dissonant hellish Metal insanity once more. I have been thoroughly captivated by each song, this one is no different. There is plenty of diversity in the music that allows for an unpredictable and exciting listen but with that said each song flows beautifully together to create a masterful piece of art. There is a nice mix of claustrophobic psychedelia and some gorgeous tapped guitar leads that create a really unique soundscape together. Fantastic!
5. Writhing In Emptiness jumps right into some pretty upbeat sections after the doomy ending of the last track. This song has some really punchy hooks to it that are flooded with grisly lead guitars and blasting drums. The chugging freighter of pure assault is absolutely glorious, decimating Death Metal. The vocals once more really add some ferocity to the already intensely aggressive music, this time seeming to bolt out hatred in a more reserved but equally tasteful and vitriolic manner. The cavernous walls of sound are soulfully bleak yet totally dark and hideous. The clean guitar sections were an unexpected turn that really shows some desire to break the boundaries, most importantly working really well within the track. The ending was monstrously heavy, certainly some material to get people banging their heads. Excellent stuff!
6. End Of Life Dreams And Visions Pt. 1 blisters into atmospheric pummelling riffs. The grotesque instrumentals are absolutely filled with impacting attack. The dissonance once more returns with some chilling effects that are damn uncomfortable but work really well with the music this band perform, diving right back into full-fledged assaults straight after. The slamming brutality of this piece is traditionally effective and really catchy, while the impeccably darker soundscapes this band create than others within the genre are really noteworthy. Some more killer stuff here!
7. Malicious Equivalence churns out more ferocious drums that sound absolutely killer, filled with intricate skill, huge walls of guitar and bass that just obliterate you and of course the guttural hellishness of the vocalist along with the instruments. There are some killer doomy atmospheric to this piece that work really well at creating this dragging, despairing and claustrophobic vibe. This song was yet another disconcerting piece of disemboweling and mighty Death Metal that will surely please all fans of truly grotesque extremity that really delves into disturbingly harsh territory with the bleak and discordant approaches the band take. Excellent!
8. End Of Life Dreams And Visions Pt. 2 is the closing piece of this fantastic album, I cannot even begin to predict how they will do this. Continuing in the doomy nature with some nice crunchy guitars and slower paced barbarism before going through waves of trippy cleaner guitars that create something very unique. The more depressive touches of this song are stunning in their own right but truly feel like something horrifically heavy is about to hit us with all of its might. While the catatonic heaviness of the piece is intense, it continues in the more light vibe that is set out in, which once again proves to me the unpredictability of the release. However shortly after we are given some amazing grooves and plenty of heaviness. A final song filled with both sombre melancholy and macabre ferocity. A wonderful closing piece to a consistently intense and brilliant album!
Once more 20 Buck Spin have given us some of the most furiously dissonant and heinously harsh old school Death Metal we could hope for. Fans of Tomb Mold, Outer Heaven, Ulthar, Hyperdontia and those types of bands need to get right onto checking this out. Some insanely heavy material here that was mesmerising from start to finish. -8.5/10
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