GRAVE MIASMA
Abyss Of Wrathful Deities SEPULCHRAL VOICE
London’s arcane death metallers reach a new plane of potency
ALTHOUGH TOO ARCANE and turbulent to be picked up by the mainstream radar, Grave Miasma are regarded as contemporary gods by discerning death metal connoisseurs. After two acclaimed EPS, the Londoners’ debut album, Odori Sepulcrorum,
was a devastating, imperious statement, wherein the malevolent spirit and atmosphere of the old school were given a monstrous upgrade, incorporating decades of leftfield, dissonant brutality into an otherwise strident act of genre purity. Somehow, 2016’s Endless Pilgrimage EP was even more impressive, as the band’s sound became more focused, and its delivery more destructive. As a result, a huge amount is expected of second album, Abyss Of Wrathful Deities. Pleasingly, it delivers on each and every front.
There is something truly magical about Grave Miasma’s sound. Firmly rooted in the darkest corners of death metal’s first and second waves, songs like barbarous opener Guardians Of Death
and the warped and progressive Rogyapa
are masterful exercises in undiluted riffing power and multi-tempo dexterity, but underpinned by a palpable sense of otherworldly menace and mortal dread. It’s the ultimate holistic death metal experience and it’s insanely exciting.
Significantly, by eschewing the foggy pretention of the postportal set in favour of a muscular and precise production job, Grave Miasma have given these incredible songs their best chance of connecting with the audience they deserve. As much as songs like
Erudite Decomposition and
Exhumation Rites wallow in atonal churn, they are also beautifully constructed, old-school metal songs, with all the incisive riff power and grandeur the greatest of such endeavours require.
Avowedly dark as fuck and endlessly fascinating, and yet still dedicated to making heads bang, Abyss Of Wrathful Deities is further proof that Grave
Miasma are operating on a higher level than just about everybody else. ■■■■■■■■■■
FOR FANS OF: Incantation, Cruciamentum, Necros Christos
DOM LAWSON