Premiere: Ominous Scriptures – Rituals of Mass Self-Ignition
Chill brutal death metal from chill brutal death dudes.
Now, you might be wondering what the fuck is chill about an album called Rituals of Mass Self-Ignition, let alone the entire genre of brutal death metal. I assure you this isn’t some weird post-metal/brutal death mashup; Ominous Scriptures are as fast, ferocious, and, well, brutal as they come. But it’s all about the vibe, man, and it’s pretty clear these dudes are here to party. The band’s newest full-length is in essence a love letter to the genre, which might sound like reviewer code for, “I don’t know what else to write about this,” but so sayeth the band themselves:
“This record is a tribute to the best time in brutal death metal history – the late 90s/early 2000s! Nothing extraordinary here; just a dark extreme sound from fans to fans. This album is designed for those who are dedicated to real brutality. Enjoy!”
It’s always a good time hearing an album so singularly focused on its goal and executing on it so well. I’m also of the opinion that the Ominous Scriptures boys are underselling themselves here; they bill themselves as no-frills brutal death metal, but you could have fooled me. You’ll notice that the production is about as clanky and pingy as you’d expect for the genre, but it’s also extremely tight and a bit more heavy on the mids, giving the sound a bit more meat on its charred bones. The songs themselves are positively loaded with hooks and contagious grooves sandwiched between spidery tech riffs and braindead slams. Written by fans of BDM for fans of BDM and maybe catching some folks on the fringes (Cytotoxin fans are almost guaranteed to enjoy this), Rituals of Mass Self-Ignition is some of the most fun I’ve had with the genre. You can stream the album in whole right here, right now:
Rituals of Mass Self-Ignition releases on January 27th via Willowtip.
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