As Oration kicks off, the group sure don’t waste time delivering exactly what any mindful listener is begging for: a fearsome roaring combo of shrill riffs, a deep, charging rhythm, and some of the most indescribably incredible growls you’ll hear from any vocalist in the genre at the moment.
Submerged By Hadean Tides commences on a strong and compelling note with cool choral harmonies and seismic bass tones that ring in your ears, and that brute, resolute pressure coming courtesy of the latter is thoroughly retained through the entirety of the track, then in the later minutes we get juicy guitar displays and an awesome, blinding, barraging assault.
Daughters Of The Lotus slowly enters the scene in a meticulous fashion whilst generating a sludgy, menacing air that keeps you sucked in and totally hooked all the way to the end. The completely instrumental Breath Of The Dedalus produces this utterly awe-inspiring as well as unsettling hellish soundscape that’s difficult to express through words, but trust me when I say that it’s very effective. Liquescent Hours begins at a steady pace, but soon enough they unleash into another infectiously driving offensive.
But out of nowhere, we get a change of style with Triptych, as the band opt to strip everything back and focus on a spoken direction, and they accomplish this stupendously; his voice is fiercely gripping and spine-chilling, the words are arresting, and the initially minimal instruments in the first half only broaden the haunting atmosphere, and afterwards Black Trees Waving makes for a great, entertaining finale that shifts and swerves over its 15 minute duration.
There is no doubt whatsoever that the Italian unit have produced one of 2022’s definitive A-level death metal records, from top to bottom it’s an immense and overpowering experience that is loud, large, investing and featuring little to no flaws to speak of, it’s as close to bloody perfection as it gets.
SMALL MUSIC SCENE 