Album review: Infernal Execrator - Diabolatry (2023)

Infernal Execrator - Diabolatry 

Singapore

Pulverised Records

 

The black metal tyrants from Singapore Infernal Execrator are back with their third album “Diabolatry”, which was released on CD and vinyl by Pulverised Records in December 2023.

From start to finish, “Diabolatry” hits harder than a spiked ballista bullet fired at you from a trebuchet straight out of hell. Every track on this album is ruthlessly executed, precise and showcases the band's superb craftsmanship. I was definitely impressed by the level of ferocity and high-octane aggression that this album exhibits.

Frenzied tremolo riffs are executed with relentless precision while the band maintains the pace and intensity as each drum beat mercilessly pummels the listener to dust like a hellish hammer causing multiple broken bones. The music runs you over like a tank, while Ashir’s martial vocals are spat into the mic like a demonic entity denouncing everything that is holy.

Tracks like “Infernal Storm of Oblivion” show a more mid-paced side to their sound, introducing various dynamics and haunting melodies, while “Marauders Prayers of Profanation” opens with a terrifying scream and simply obliterates everything in its path with all-out viciousness. The riffs are both catchy and blistering, but ultimately very well crafted, which also happens to be one of the focal points of this album. The music strikes a seamless balance between brutality and melody, the way it was always meant to sound, while the album’s excellent production brings out the best of the performance.

After several listens, I can confirm with absolute certainty that “Diabolatry” is the heaviest and best album the band has released to date and another excellent addition to their epic discography. The whole record is packed with incendiary songs that once again show why countries like Singapore, in spite of its small size, are no underdogs when it comes to producing quality extreme metal. Highly recommended. 

Album review: Azath - Through a Warren of Shadow (2020)

Azath - Through a Warren of Shadow

USA

Pulverised Records

After their first demo in 2018, the band returns from the cesspool of exhumation with this dark and evil debut album in the final and chaotic year of 2020.

Relentless death metal practitioners fueled with great technique and insane fury. They also show us a strong influence of Black Metal and even Thrash Metal in their compositions. I read that many didn't like the sound of the drums. It's true that the production isn't the best, but are they sick in the head? It sounds really beastly and it's the right sound for what the band is proposing to us. It's underground, not overproduced shit. At the end of the day, I think this is the sound we like the most. In my opinion, the battery is like a machine gun. The drummer fires all the time with that killer snare, and the bass does its job very well, amplifying the power of the sound. The riffs are sharp as a sword. There is a lot of technique in their execution. The music is very well thought out and accomplished. Everything has meaning and they are always trying to connect the parts of the song together so that they explode along with the other instruments, while the slow parts are incorporated with melodies expressed as disturbing laments from beyond. For fans of Dead Congregation, Cruciamentum, Grave Miasma. (Catacombs Walker)

Album review: Exhumation - Eleventh Formulae (2020)

Exhumation - Eleventh Formulae

Indonesia

Pulverised Records

Upon first hearing this monster of an album, I am met with a wondrously ominous harsh noise intro that transitions into very old-school vein dissonant death metal. “Eleventh Formulae” is the band’s third full length and 5^th release overall. Formed in 2008, Indonesia’s Exhumation have their sound locked in. This full-length has a lot going on, from pummeling blast sections, galloping segments and old-school death thrash worship. There is even some old-school black metal sprinkled into the mix which is almost always a recipe for making extreme music sound 100 times better.

The sound of “Eleventh Formulae” as a whole if I could sum it up in two words would be primitive and chaotic. The production is absolutely perfect for the style. Not too raw, but not too over produced. That perfect middle ground where I can hear all the instruments fine, but it maintains a lo-fi bestial atmosphere.

The three “Formulae” tracks that are present mid album and at the end add to the band’s disgusting and vile atmosphere as well as creating a dynamic full album listening experience. Definitely some thought was put into this album to keep things captivating, which can be a difficult task when writing black or death metal full-length albums. The vocals have dynamic in them going from full harsh vocals to an almost ritualistic shouting sort of vocals.

Clocking in at a minute shy of 40 minutes, there is not a single mediocre track on Exhumation’s latest offering. The chaotic, frantic style of lead playing with divebombs almost shows influence from the first three Morbid Angel records. This is a death metal full-length that in my opinion verges on being black/ death and death/thrash at the same time. The final “Formulae” track comes in, surprising me after 2 minutes of dark ambient to mid-paced instrumental riffing, almost sounding similar to Sweden’s Craft or Carpathian Forest, ending the album on a strong note.

This is very refreshing death metal to listen to and the only complaint I have is not hearing it sooner, noting that it was released back in February of 2020. Though every track is consistent, the strongest songs here would be “Inferno Dwellers”, “Arcane Dance”, and “Blood Trails”. For fans of Necrovore, “Morbid Visions” era Sepultura, Sarcofago, Morbid Angel and Venenum. (AR)