HORRIFIED - Of Despair

May 11, 2016, 7 years ago

(Stormspell)

Greg Pratt

Rating: 7.5

review black death horrified

HORRIFIED - Of Despair

I gave this UK death metal crew a 6.5 for their last album a couple years back; even though I confessed it was done well, the band's raw take on death metal sounded like too many others to make much of an impact. Gotta say things have improved, and they've done so in an unlikely way: the influence of black metal riffing. Tunes like the very cool “Infernal Lands” sound like a middle point between Autopsy and Dissection, and that's something I can get behind. Album highlight “Funeral Pyres” clocks in at 8:05 and shows how much this band has progressed: first of all, the song doesn't get boring even at its relatively long length, and secondly, it's a real journey through blackened death landscapes and soundscapes, without being overdramatic or overbearing (ditto for 8:27 closer “The Ruins That Remain”). 

Really cool, and the more concise songs on the album pack a good punch too. Also, love the production on the drums in particular, with the snare snapping to life in a very natural way, which adds lots of personality to this cool album. The band still sounds like others, but they sound like fewer others than they did before, and have also done a very difficult thing: they managed to pull off a fairly significant shift in sound between albums without sounding forced or cloying.



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