Rating: 8.4

Country: USA

Release Date: 2001

Record Label: World War III /Repulse

Track list:
1. In Ancient Beliefs
2. Unholy Return
3. The Afterlife
4. Fallen Misery
5. Spiritual Evocation
6. Endless Hauntings of Demons and Despair
7. Eternal Darkness
8. Manifested Apparitions of Unholy Spirits
9. Ritual Ceremonies of Blasphemous Horror

Deteriorot - In Ancient Beliefs

John Brody - Drums
Will Kuberski - Lead Guitars
Paul Zavaleta - Lead Guitar, Vocals, Session Bass

Call this the "sleeper hit" of 2001. Deteriorot is a band that had been around for almost a decade, but had never been heard from much until the release of this album. Their prior output is limited to a 1992 self- titled demo and a 1993 7" EP on Drowned Productions, but after finally securing a somewhat stable lineup, this New Jersey trio unleashed one of the best death metal albums of the year.

You can tell right from the first buzzing tremolo of the title track where Deteriorot perches on the sprawling family tree of death metal. They are of the ultra-evuhl school of Autopsy-ish, doomy, melodic sludge, which has also spawned such acclaimed names as The Chasm, Incantation and Disciples of Mockery. Of these three, Deteriorot is most closely related to Incantation, yet to these ears, ‘In Ancient Beliefs' is infinitely more appealing than any Incantation album. Deteriorot's songs tend to have more conservative compositions than Incantation's, which makes them substantially more accessible, but not in a fruity, Gothenburgy way. More in a classic, early 90's Stockholmy way. The brutality is definitely present in spades, but without much of the tedium that plagues Incantation. Most death metal bands these days seem virtually incapable of putting together structurally sound songs, and this alone puts Deteriorot among the genre's elite.

The vocals are also much more to my liking. I was never a fan of the monotonous, guttural eructations of Craig Pillard and Mike Saez (Daniel Corchado was an exception - one of my favorite death metal vocalists of all time, in fact) and Deteriorot's Paul Zavaleta is quite different stylistically. Zavaleta's voice is a vicious, rasping growl; somewhat like a mix of Resurrection's Paul Degoyler and Immolation's Ross Dolan. Zavaleta isn't exactly the most dynamic vocalist ever, but I believe that his style complements Deteriorot's punishing riffage flawlessly.

Basically, if you like your death metal catchy, yet punishingly heavy and imbued with a convincing satanic vibe, ‘In Ancient Beliefs' would be an ideal addition to your collection. If Deteriorot can maintain a stable lineup for any extended period of time, they have a very bright future ahead of them. It should be noted that the American issuing of this album is not only the best thing released by World War III Records to this date, but also comes with the entire '92 demo as bonus tracks, so look for that version.

September 7th, 2005