For those familiar with this site, my tastes, and my biases (as unintended as they be), you’re well aware that my preferred style of death metal is the early, bloody, gore ridden insanity of the late 80s and early 90s, as well as any new bands who do a faithful enough job replicating such. Whenever a death metal band starts to incorporate elements of “tech” or “melody” or “atmosphere”, I tend to tap out. However, there are some exceptions. One such exception is the subject of today’s review, Grave Miasma, and their latest album, Abyss of Wrathful Deities.
Grave Miasma plays an extremely dark and dismal style of death metal, not unlike Dead Congregation or Cruciamentum. The occasional incorporation of tremolo riffing and blastbeats adds a slight black metal touch, but not to the point where I’d label this a blackened death metal record. No, this is straightforward death metal, albeit sounding like it was recorded from the most cavernous pit of hell. Imagine if Incantation overdosed on reverb. Now keep that in mind and you’ll have a pretty good guide for the rest of this review.
The opening “Guardians of Death” does a solid job setting the stage for the rest of the album. Its frantic pace pairs well with the bleak atmosphere, weighty riffs, and echoing vocals. Lead guitarist Tom McKenna lays down a flashy solo to top it all off. These brief moments of six string glory are the closest thing we’ll hear resembling melody throughout. “Rogyapa” slows things down to a midtempo crawl. The riffs are evil and menacing, sounding like a cross between Celtic Frost and Morbid Angel. When Grave Miasma aren’t trying to push the limits of your sanity, like on “Guardians of Death”, they find a rather healthy groove within this mid paced niche. Cuts like “Under the Megalith” and “Kingdoms Beyond Kalilash” just go to show that blastbeats aren’t everything.
On the flip side of the coin are “Demons of the Sand” and “Exhumation Rites”. These lengthy pieces flirt with black metal and remind me why I don’t venture towards this area of death metal often. For what these songs are, they aren’t bad. I just have to accept that this atmospheric blackened death style isn’t my cup of tea for more than a song or two. Which brings me to my biggest bone of contention against this album: its length. If you want to make an effective death metal record, 40 minutes is all you need. 45 is pushing it, but there are some cases where such length is acceptable. 50 minutes? Sorry chief. Had this album been 2 or 3 songs shorter, it probably would’ve sat better with me. Unfortunately, by the time the acoustic “Interlude” came around, I had grown pretty disinterested.
All gripes aside, there’s still enough gnarly Azagthothian riffage that saves Abyss of Wrathful Deities from a middle of the road 5 rating. I hope that Grave Miasma doubles down on these elements for their next release, whenever that may be. After all, this is their first full length in eight years. Maybe by then I’ll grow so devoid of basic human emotion that I’ll listen to nothing less than Incantationcore.
6 out of 10
Label: Dark Descent Records
Genre: Death Metal
For fans of: Dead Congregation, Cruciamentum, Incantation