Pseudogod haven't really been around for a substantial amount of time, but during their eight year lifespan, you would expect them to bring forth atleast one full-lenght album, yet surprisingly, ''Deathwomb Catechesis'' stands out as their debut album and naturally I would expect it to be filled with intricate songwriting and complex song structures, but again, these abhorrent Russions defy the traditions and form an album that isn't by any means complex. On this album I found the elusive war metal sound to be highly dominant, and it's indeed a bonus for the band since war metallers have been terribly enshrouded by black/death acts (yeah, there's a difference) constantly emerging from nowhere and then slowly turning onto more mainstream audiances. Pseudogod ahev proved to be one of the more primal-sounding acts that worship old school gods such as Blasphemy, Conqueror, Proclamation, early Beherit and alike, but there some interesting twists and turns that will guide you towards certain nuances.
The riff burst open vigorously on every track, from a subterranean cave of monstrous blasphemy, spraying abhorrent hate and immense destruction to every single place it visits. The traditional sense of raw bestial black metal is here, though I couldn't help but notic that the form of the music is not the rawest, and rather excessible really. There is always a raw production quality and a sinister atmosphere brooding in silence above the music, but the death metal influence stands heavier than the black metal influence, resulting in a disastrous conflict between the two genres, where death metal generally has the upper hand. There is not a single track that failed to impress me with its filthy hooks clutching and distorting my flesh, even though most tracks have small variation and diversity, but the intense assault of primitive, bestial black/death blows it all away with ease. There seems to be a cleaner production in the mix, rendering the album more comprehensible than other bestial acts. I love how the guitars abhorrently collide and mingle, spawning chaos from their mangled veins, thundering with great heft. The album attains a great, fast and energetic black/thrash sound at times, constatly laying siege with rapid tremolo and chord picking with an even cleaner sound circling them, as seen on ''Malignant Spears'', or peraps ''Azazel'', and some sequences on ''Saturnalia (The Night of the Return)'' poke my brain in search of nostalgia, coming from the blackened death/doom passages and haunted atmopshere of the song, never failing effectiveness.
All the tracks strike like war maces, battering and clobbering the listeners head over and over with an unending incursion of pulluted death metal. The vocals, a perfect, sloppy example of the war metal style, fit the music very well also. Their echoing, cavernous voice, filles the atmosphere with every single breath, yet every single breath fades and eroses into the music like dust, dissolving into a turbulent gust of wind. ''Deathwomb Catechesis'' shows that the Russians have still much to deliver, but for now, Pseudogod deserve the right to nap on their throne. Again, I was expecting a slightly more sophisticated and mind-tangling release, but after you hear the blackened death flurry with a healthy amount of thrash on top, you'll have little doubt about the bands seriousness. A shattering release of blasphemous detestation.
Highlights:
Antichrist Victory
Encarnacion Del Mal
Malignant Spears
Rating: 87%
Follow the Russian blasphemers from Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/pseudogodVIVIVI
No comments:
Post a Comment