Whenever a new death metal band comes across my radar, I must proceed with caution. For every truly sick band with memorable riffs, kickass performances, and as original songcraft as a genre doing its darndest to replicate the glory days of 35 years ago can get, there’s about a dozen glorified hardcore acts lazily hopping upon the death metal bandwagon, churning out the same monotonous Bolt Thrower worship for instant clicks and coveted spots on package tours. Thankfully, Glorious Depravity falls into the former category, otherwise I likely wouldn’t have even bothered to write this much, as I can usually figure out these appropriators’ gameplan by track 3.
Formed in 2017, Glorious Depravity is an old school death metal supergroup of sorts, featuring a bunch of guys famous for acts that aren’t old school death metal at all. Three fourths of US black metallers Woe make up the crux of the lineup, specifically bassist John McKinney, drummer Chris Grigg, and guitarist Matt Newton. They are joined by guitarist George Paul, best known as drummer for Motörhead worshippers Overdose, as well as frontman Doug Moore, who growls for avant-garde death metal weirdos Pyrrhon. While I don’t know their origin story, I can make an educated guess that it has something to do with getting that itch to revisit the bands who made them fall in love with this music in the first place. Deicide, Malevolent Creation, Cannibal Corpse, Vader: All bands of whom can be heard in the sick and, well, depraved tuneage of Glorious Depravity.
The aptly titled Death Never Sleeps doesn’t just feature riffing, grooves, and other various musical nuances lifted straight out of death metal’s early ’90s golden period, but even nails the production, sounding sonically like a cross between Malevolent Creation’s Retribution and Benediction’s Transcending the Rubicon. In other words, the production is crisp and vital, every instrument’s voice bursting through your stereo with fierce clarity and lethal force. This becomes apparent from the opening death-thrashing attack of “Slaughter the Gerontocrats”. While I use the term “death-thrashing” to describe its rapid fire delivery, don’t mistake this for the first gen ’80s death metal worship I usually highlight on this site. This album is pure early ’90s to the core, so again, think the more thrashing moments of the aforementioned Malevolent Creation.
Another thing about the OSDM crop of the last decade or so is each band can be linked to a “parent band”, so to speak, the most common being Entombed, Bolt Thrower, and Mortician. Heck, even Molder, the BEST band of the revival, I’ve been guilty of branding as “Autopsy Jr.”, even though there’s equal measures Asphyx and ’80s Death to be heard in their sound as well. In the case of Glorious Depravity, this really doesn’t apply. I guess the closest band I’d compare them to is Deicide, particularly considering the evil song structures of cuts like “Sulphrous Winds (Howling Through Christendom)”, “The Devouring Dust”, and “Carnage at the Margins”, not to mention Moore’s Glen Benton-esque vocal delivery, but blind plagiarism this is not.
Subtly towing the balance between midtempo punishers and flesh-ripping ragers, hooking the listener with one chunky riff-fest after the next, and boasting the most authentic early ’90s production I’ve heard in a long time, Glorious Depravity have dropped anything but a sophomore slump with Death Never Sleeps. Coincidentally, this death squad will be rolling through the Windy City in just a matter of days, and playing a club a stone’s throw away from this jaded metal reviewer’s place of residence at that. I look forward to experiencing the unrelenting power of these new cuts live!
8 out of 10
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: Deicide, Malevolent Creation, Vader