Depravity - Silence of the Centuries

DEPRAVITY - Silence of the Centuries (THE CRYPT - LP 2011)

I am always glad when I can grab some classic death metal records, especially on vinyl, as this is the format, which I prefer, when I collect late 80’s or 90’s recordings. It doesn’t even have to be first press, I am not such dork. Also, I am happy to see many old albums or even demos released on vinyl after many, many years. That's the case with "Silence of the Centuriess" EP by Finnish band Depravity, which was released on CD only back in 1993. In 2011 The Crypt unleashed the vinyl version – which is awesome, in my opinion! 

This vinyl compilation contains two records. And let me say that LP number two is rubbish. There are two early demos from Depravity, both from 1991: "Demo 1" and "Galvanizer". And I can't say they sound good at all. Actually, they are awful and the only value they have is that, which is historical as demos from Depravity. The music is just primitive and very raw death metal, which is barely listenable. I don’t really care for these demos at all. 

But the first vinyl is a real treat for maniacs of classic death metal and all these killer releases from the early 90's. You'll find there "Remasquerade" EP, "Phantasmagoria" demo and finally "Silence of the Centuries" EP, which was also Depravity's farewell recording. Here the band sounds damn awesome and I can guarantee that all fans of the Scandinavian death metal will like it. Depravity didn't sound as brutal and obscure as some other acts from their country, I think their music had much more in common with the Swedish death metal. And from Finland I would mention bands such as Sentenced on their early releases, Convulse and Demigod. Quite mid paced and fairly melodic death metal, with that dark atmosphere, which embraces these songs from their first seconds... There's a whole lot of good ideas in these songs, I love the riffs, melodic parts, some very good guitar leads, even how the keyboards are included in few parts. On "Silence of the Centuries" Depravity started to sound more aggressive and songs became a bit faster, more nasty and violent, but they kept the dark atmosphere. And in "Vacuum of Thoughts" the music reminds me even Pestilence a bit, with some of these characteristic riffs, which I very cool, I think. i love it, especially the title song. What a nice stuff. 

All in all, this is a great compilation, except the second LP though. I love the gatefold layout, with all these archive materials and even the new artwork by Turkka G. Rantanen looks amazing. It looks pretty much the same as the original one, but had to be painted all over again, and Turkka did awesome job here, I think. That's how a vinyl release should be like. 

Verdict: 90 / 100 (for LP 1) - 30 / 100 (for LP 2)