ALBUM REVIEW: Ænigmatum – Deconsecrate

ÆNIGMATUM return with their 2nd album of abyssal Blackened Death Metal oddities. Out via 20 Buck Spin on August 13th.

Wasting no time on an introduction, opting instead for some incredibly intricate drum work, this album fires in on all cylinders. The immediately interesting thing about this band is the warped bass lines that recall similar soundscapes from their label mates Void Ceremony. This betwixt monstrous riffing and unrelenting drums that convulse and contort into a form of sonic mayhem that is dense and yet with sparse tendrils reaching out from the brutal centrepiece into unique musical realms like some Lovecraftian horror. As my personal introduction to this band, I am blown away by their songwriting and musical abilities very quickly, a feeling that is only reinforced as this album delves further into both demolishing heaviness and also experimental oddness with equally magnificent outcomes. The way in which the sections lurch in an intentionally jarring manner is akin to that of Demilich while the otherwise very melodious ways in which this specific tapestry is woven are ultimately very different to such bands. This is certainly not old school Death Metal by any stretch of the imagination, this is a contemporary cut of Blackened Death Metal madness that is expansive and feverish in all of its restless twists and turns.

As we are dragged into more insanity fuelled depths by voivodian riffing and seismic bass atop infinitely manoeuvring drums, the vocals keep things gloriously tied together with that savage delivery yet do not blunder into the way of the instrumental cosmology. This is not an every day album, this is not some straight forward Black/Death Metal either. This is transcendental chaos, showcasing fantastic musical ability with staggering, lurching songs that have so many diverse quality strung together with great care to create a cerebral yet not overly pretentious record. Do not get me wrong, there is that prog shroud that may put off the average headbanger, but do not dismiss this album as there is so much spirit on show here, not to mention the guts to fit so many sounds into 45 minutes and actually pull it off. Methodical yet absolutely not predictable, this album has enough twists and turns to leave even the most wised musical aficionados dumbfounded, yet they still make sure to stay absolutely in the realms of Black and Death Metal very efficiently. A living contrast of sound and vision that works to grandiose and unforgettable effect.

A monumental, memorable and totally unique listen that bends the proportions of Extreme Metal into something completely warped and unrecognisable yet with that feeling of intense heaviness always present. This is a wonderful example of a band who progressed to new territories without losing the all-important Black / Death Metal core of their music.