Finally from my quadrilogy of review from Dawning Septic Productions is some Blackened Death Metal, in the form of OBSCURE DEVOTION’s third full length album.
Haunting medieval ambience starts the record off with a definitively strong atmosphere. There is a filthy groove that has clear roots in Death Metal as blastbeats, caustic riffing and snarled vocals drop us into a brutal barrage of excellency with killer songwriting and incredibly tight musicianship with magnificent production to match. Consistently battering, this album is devastatingly heavy but we do get some gorgeously melodic interluding atmospherics that offer a nice diversity to the soundscapes which do not stray to far from the hellish onslaught that made such a strong opening impact. The sheer might and passion that is driven forth from the monolithic riffing and drum work provides a perfect force for the hateful vocals to be thrown over with a fierce performance from the full band. There are additionally some unpredictably techy sections that work surprisingly well with the death-march of Blackened Death Metal intensity, these add some wickedly groove-hooked progressions to the meaty mix of extremity. These guys have some brilliant ideas while sticking to a fairly well-established style of Blackened Death Metal but deliver it pretty damn flawlessly. Ferociously heavy and reliably well-written with an awesome blend of aggression and melody, this is a really solid album and definitely worth a spin. -8/10
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