Rating: 8.5
Country: Greece
Genre: Death Metal
Record Label: Nuclear War Now!
Release Date: 2008
Track list:
1. Martyrdoom
2. Hostis Humani Generis
3. Morbid Paroxysm
4. Vanishing Faith
5. Voices
6. Graves Of The Archangels
7. Subjugation
8. Source Of Fire
9. Teeth Into Red
Total playing time 43:38
Band Website: Dead Congregation |
Dead Congregation - Graves of the Archangels
A.V. - Guitars, Leads, Vocals
T.K. - Guitars
A. A. - Bass
V.V. - Drums
Graves of the Archangels, the first full length album of these revered Greek death metal stalwarts, opens unostentatiously – gradually picking up pace with leads wailing convincingly like young housewives from a distance, drums rolling to and fro like an Indian holy man on the ground before an audience, Swedish-toned heavyweight guitars laying down slab upon massive slab of crushing riffs on you while sweet Finnish melodies work their charm to break down your resistance; the basic purpose of “Martyrdom” being to insidiously implant in you the seed of dread and susceptibility that will grow with the album to seize complete control over your senses.
By “Hostis Humani Generis” you find their towering riffs already moving about you in full flow, dizzying if not befuddling you with their rapid movements. This, bear in mind, is done while maintaining an orderly old school decorum and not with brute savagery. And when the music is not slackened by the ponderously moving old school parts, a long epic battle wages for maximum playing time between two equally powerful dark death metal Gods, Immolation and Incantation, each conjuring forth their trademark brooding riffs and lethal hooks, leaving you enthralled. Their music provides for more than just their worship, augmented as it is with modern Eurodeath elements that charge and slash at you with impunity, at times even utilizing blackened riffs for the purpose. Exquisitely crafted with skills that can only be inherited from the great bands, their songs don't leave room for monotony to settle in and unravel in a manner that is logical yet unsettling.
Impressive moments are aplenty, with each song having a glorious part or five to boast about. Usually, it is when Dead Congregation indulge in the drunken excesses of Incantation and the intricate as well as the catchier sections of Immolation that their music becomes most pleasurable and also when their wailing leads turn ambitious and attempt to touch the rarefied heights attained by the latter band's leads. There are a few awkward moments where both the prominent influences overlap each other, which is when I suppose the gods are grappling with each other. Nevertheless, one can always rely on their adept drummer to pull you out of these miry parts, which V.V. does in a rumbling fashion, adding extra liveliness to the music. The robust, lucid, crunchy and resonant production can be considered impeccable, though it could be darker for a band employing as many Incantation/Immolation riffs as Dead Congregation do. Thankfully, for the most part their music is suffused with a dense and eerie atmosphere due to the sublime nature of their riffs and small but touching bits like the occult choir-like intro in the title song and the piece resembling an Islamic prayer in the laudable nine minute final song.
By blending different styles and schools of death metal, Dead Congregation have created music which is much more than just a throwback to the early ‘90s (as is mostly the case with today's pure death metal bands) and are likely to please any true fan of death metal. Graves of the Archangels is an excellent album that is destined to make its presence felt in the list of this year's best albums.
August 15th, 2008
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