Demonic Obedience - Nocturnal Hymns to the Fallen

Artist: Demonic Obedience
Release Title: Nocturnal Hymns to the Fallen
Year: 2016
Label: Satanath Records/Sevared Records
Genre: Death/Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Create the Shapeless
2. Portal of the Sacred Kan
3. Forced Obscenity
4. Impermissible Irreverence Pt. 1
5. Nocturnal Imagery
6. Godmade Beast
7. Impermissible Irreverence Pt. 2
8. Gehenna

Now finding residence in Scotland, Greece-based one-man death/black metallers Demonic Obedience have brought their intensity and explosive fury to the forefront while trying to hold a connection to both places involving the projects’ residency. Taking a two-year gap between releases, the second full-length album was originally released May 18, 2016 in a co-release between Sevared Records and Satanath Records.

Combining their styles into one wholesale effect, this here manages to take on quite a few elements of each element here into creating a dark whole. That is primarily based around the album’s predominantly dark, churning riff-work that keeps this one charging along with plenty of ferocious death metal-styled rhythms as the majority of the tracks fall into agonized sprawling patterns or thumping chugs which keep the focus of the album firmly rooted in the death metal realm. The tighter, blackened rhythms featured here top off this effect with a stylized sense of controlled fury that accentuates the darkened atmosphere rather well as it  keeps alternating rather nicely between these variations and offers the album quite a generally positive experience by not getting bogged down in the one-note approach so many efforts who attempt this style also make. Flying between faster, more up-tempo numbers with churning riffing alongside the slower, more agonized sprawling sections does manage to give this a distinct variety within itself, but it also manages to highlight the fact that there’s not a whole lot of differentiability within the tracks themselves, which tend to focus on the same few select rhythms within here and never changes the overall rhythms or approaches here, ending up causing the album to run together quite easily here especially in the second half where it’s entirely possible to lose where you are in the running order as the tracks have already yielded their surprises and don’t really offer the surprise variations that were featured in the top half. Otherwise there’s not a whole lot to dislike here.

Though it’s quite familiar and tends to run itself into the ground without much variation throughout here, there’s still such a prominent and powerful attack at the core of the film that it manages to overcome a lot of those issues and manages to hold itself up enough to make for a worthwhile choice for any fan of the style or his previous works as well.

Score: 82/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat149-demonic-obedience-nocturnal-hymns-to-the-fallen-2016

Insision - Terminal Reckoning

Artist: Insision
Release Title: Terminal Reckoning
Year: 2016
Label: Sevared Records
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Among Us
2. Ominous Spiral
3. Infected
4. Shapeshifting
5. Old Ways
6. Cold Air
7. XXVI.II.MMXIV
8. Resist (God Does Not Exist)

One of the genre’s foremost acts, Swedish brutal death metal legends Insision have been at the scene since the late 90s, but a series of lineup issues has plagued the band’s output in recent years. Finally getting stabilized as Gustav Trodin on bass, Ljusebring Terrorblaster on drums and Adam Ramis on second guitar join holdovers Roger Johansson and Carl Birath to finally issue their fourth full-length after a near-decade gap in releases on January 1, 2016 on Sevared Records.

As would be expected in a band around this long, there’s a wide range of tight, deep churning riff-work to be found here as the band manages to get through the paces quite nicely. The swirling lead rhythms and frantic, blasting drumming on display keep this charging forward at quite steady paces which  is given even more to work with as that allows the riffing to dredge up the tight arrangements that make for a sterling display of brutality while also managing to develop a more traditional old-school atmosphere in these arrangements that brings out the rather immersive swampy atmosphere to the proceedings. It’s all the better here with the way it manages to add the swampy, old-school atmosphere here to the tight, frantic riff-work buzzing along to the varied tempos as that helps out in the brutality stakes as well with the songs shifting nicely between the frenzied, faster tempos as well as the slower, more mid-tempo charges that are alternated throughout here with plenty of rather impressive rhythms that give this one a great balance. Even the old-school-style soloing is nicely on point here and generates a fiery, dynamic atmosphere that as well comes off with a type of melodic air against the tightly-wound, deep churning riff-work elsewhere on display that they really stand out in contrast, which is another nice touch on display here. Being that the band has obviously been around for awhile they’re able to generate plenty of proficiently-crafted rhythms and patterns here, but it does manage to come off as somewhat perfunctory, as though the band is simply going through the motions in their playbook and hitting them expertly but don’t really generate any original moves with them. It’s all quite apparent where they’re going and it does strike up a small note against this one, but it’s all that really hurts it overall.

Despite not really coming through with any kind of truly original work here, the fact that the bands’ experience and professionalism manages to overcome that with a slew of utterly enjoyable, varied tracks that do have many common elements in play here manages to make this a wholly worthwhile addition for fans of the bands’ past efforts or just fans of brutal old-school death metal.

Score: 88/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://insision.bigcartel.com/product/terminal-reckoning-full-length-cd-2016