{"id":107946,"date":"2021-04-23T11:00:37","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T16:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/?p=107946"},"modified":"2021-04-23T10:31:37","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T15:31:37","slug":"review-grave-miasma-abyss-of-wrathful-deities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/review-grave-miasma-abyss-of-wrathful-deities\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Grave Miasma<\/b> – Abyss of Wrathful Deities<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A cyclone in the catacombs.<\/em><\/p>\n

The histories of black and death metal began closely intertwined in their larval state before they had fully differentiated in the ’80s, separating for a while in the ’90s as both became starkly opposed to one another, and the re-entwining once more after their respective heydays led to a variety of interesting cross-pollination. This is of course a somewhat simplified view of history, but it\u2019s hard to deny that both genres have influenced one another heavily. Typically, it has been death metal receiving the lion\u2019s share of musical concepts as opposed to transmitting them, often classified as blackened death metal and accepted as a genre or style by many. Death metal had become quite bloated near the end of the ’90s and its own increasingly exaggerated, if tediously empty, obsession with frenetic intensity (whether through blocky brutality or showy technicality) was becoming quite tiresome to many. What was black metal\u2019s ’90s Norwegian explosion initially if not a reaction to death metal\u2019s rise to prominence and perceived loss of its once forbidding, occult atmospheres? It seemed that there was some truth to the narrative given how quite a few of the first death metal bands seeking to resolve this issue like Cruciamentum<\/strong>, Dead Congregation<\/strong>, Necrovation<\/strong>, and the subject of this review, Grave Miasma<\/strong>, took many notes from the second wave of blackness. While death metal wasn\u2019t alien to the concept of evocative moods and subconscious-lurking eeriness, it was perceived as a lost art of which black metal\u2019s dedication to the implicit and atavist was a gateway to rediscovery.<\/p>\n

Granted, not every death metal band attempting to revive that sense of more measured songwriting and supernaturally oppressive horror went the blackened route. It is still telling that when what we now call \u201cOld School Death Metal\u201d began, it coincided with another movement often referred to (derogatively, lazily, or even admirably) as \u201ccaverncore\u201d but I prefer to refer to it as \u201critualistic\u201d death metal. Grave Miasma was one of the first practitioners and innovators of this sound albeit under the name of Goat Molestor<\/strong> as far back as 2002, taking elements of primordial often first wave-oriented (and often death metal adjacent) black metal like Profanatica<\/strong>, Demoncy<\/strong>, Blapshemy<\/strong>, Beherit<\/strong>, Hadez<\/strong>, Sarcofago<\/strong>, and Mystifier<\/strong> then combining it with the rhythmic framework and songwriting of most famously Incantation<\/strong> but also ideas found in that band\u2019s contemporaries such as Infester<\/strong>, Imprecation<\/strong>, Decrepit<\/strong>, Morpheus Descends<\/strong>, Deteriorot<\/strong> and so on.<\/p>\n

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The mystical abstraction of black metal fused into the labyrinthine coils of the darker, doomier end of death metal; an effective combo that they further developed with a change to their current name, making quite a few waves in 2009 in the wake of titanic releases by Mitochondrion<\/strong> and Dead Congregation with the well received Exalted Emanation<\/em>. Their signature sound would see further growth 4 years later with Odori Sepulcrorum<\/em>, a masterpiece of ever-coiling riffs stretching out from labyrinthine subterranean passageways yet still finding room for powerful, soul-erasing intensity. Truth be told, they had little competition in this particular ritualistic style which was slowly becoming rather bloated with bands who had all the atmosphere but little metallic backbone to back it up. It was something they possessed in spades and which also was displayed by two of them for their stint in Cruciamentum<\/strong> albeit in a far more vicious, Morbid Angel<\/strong> and Finnish death metal-influenced form.<\/p>\n

In spite of 2016\u2019s Endless Pilgrimage<\/em> EP mostly showing them further improving their ear for eerie harmonies and layered, dense songwriting, their sophomore is a notable change of gears. Over the years many have compared them to Cruciamentum (an inaccuracy I will elaborate on) but on this album, it\u2019s not hard to hear why they might. The new Grave Miasma is a different animal but not an unfamiliar one. Even the advertisements for the album have emphasized they are sacrificing some of the fog-draped atmosphere for an additional directness and intensity. It\u2019s easily Grave Miasma at their most direct and more conventionally riff-focused. At the same time, it is not quite a metamorphosis or abandonment of their roots. This is still recognizable and closer to the sound of Exalted Emanation<\/em> in some ways, channeling their energies in a more straightforward manner.<\/p>\n

On Abyss of Wrathful Deities<\/em>, Grave Miasma\u2019s sound sees a number of key changes to their ceremonially tested doctrines. You\u2019re still greeted by CCOTN\u2019s lengthy tremolo passages offset with descending layers of chordal funeral knells but to add to that, DBH\u2019s drumming has become even more prominent. While he was always quite capable, here his tasteful fill work finds a newfound intensity that adds an additional layer of visceral impact to their music. This coincides with a lot of the riffing feeling less like it\u2019s hanging and hovering almost ambient over the drumming and instead racing and branching away from it, sharply turning and hitting jagged percussive topography. I suppose some would say the music is less \u201ctextured\u201d and while I can understand what is meant by that and don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessarily wrong, I think there\u2019s a more fitting description.<\/p>\n

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This album is immediate in a way the older works were often not and doesn\u2019t focus as much on hypnotic rhythms calling out to your subconscious. Those moments pop up but they\u2019re a lot more calculated in their usage and the end result, while featuring many lengthy songs, feels more spirited and somehow even more concise in some ways (even if the track durations aren\u2019t notably different). Does this actually make it more like Cruciamentum though? Not if you look past the superficial aspects. The early ’90s non-Nordic black metal aspects of their sound still colour much of the guitar work to a far greater degree than even on earlier Cruciamentum and while more urgent than the last album, this is comparatively doomier and it doesn\u2019t have the same slimmed down, incisive viciousness of their British (and now partially American) compatriots. A \u201cchange in style\u201d this isn\u2019t\u2014it’s more of a slight but notable shifting of the gears.<\/p>\n