HEAVING EARTH - Denouncing the Holy Throne (LAVADOME - CD 2015)
Do you know which are my
favourite Czech death metal bands? No, it’s not Krabathor, although I do like
them also. But my favourites are Brutally Deceased and Heaving Earth. And I
mention both, as they share some members, so there’s some connection between
them and surely a high quality, killer death metal came from both also. I got to
know Heaving Earth years ago thanks to their “Vision of the Vultures” demo CDR
and later I also managed to find “Diabolic Prophecies” album (released on
Polish label Redrum) and split tape with Altars, all really awesome pieces of
crushing brutal death metal. Finally after some years of break, Heaving Earth
returns with their second full length attack, titled “Denouncing the Holy
Throne” and released through Lavadome Productions. And damn, this is another
impressive recording from Heaving Earth! And one, which I was really looking
forward to hear.
But even before I heard any
sounds from this music, I was already impressed by the artwork for “Denouncing
the Holy Throne”. Wow, it’s done by Marco Hasmann, who also did covers for such
bands like Fleshgod Apocalypse and Cerebral Effusion, as well as he did the
artwork for Heaving Earth’s previous album). But what a fine and detailed
picture he made this time, I am really impressed, also with the whole booklet,
filled with beautiful black and white photographs of cemeteries and religious
(christian) objects. What I like the most is that they – both pictures and the
objects – seem to be old, like in ruins, abandoned, forgotten… this speaks for
itself perfectly and also match the title of the album. You just can’t expect a
happy music and optimistic message from it (ha, such title as “Jesus Died”
can’t say more about it!). But a quality music, yes for sure!
Maybe it’s a bit hurting to
Heaving Earth, but the main influence on their music is quite easily audible. Also
because two members wear this band’s t-shirts haha! I am talking about the
masters of US death metal, Immolation! Yes, for me they are the main
comparison, which I would make, if wanted to describe you Heaving Earth music.
But it’s not a sole influence, obviously, as it’s classic US death metal in
general, with Morbid Angel, Monstrosity, Divine Rapture, Vital Remains, Chaos
Inception, Nile, Hate Eternal… More so, I can hear some similarities to
Mithras, and it’s not because Leon Macey mixed and mastered the album, but
because both bands have exactly the same influences and in the end such “Forever
Advancing… Legions” and “Denouncing the Holy Throne” are quite alike to each
other. Anyways, I guess it is clear what you should expect after “Denouncing
the Holy Throne”. It’s just killer, high quality brutal, quite technical, but
dark and sinister death metal! The album is filled with blasts, sheer, straight
forward fragments, which will nail you to the ground and then there’re also
quite many slower, massively heavy pieces, which will make sure you never get
up and just crush you into the disgusting and putrid pile of meat, blood and
bones. If it’s either a faster track like “The Final Crowning” or a slower
bulldozer like “Worms of Rusted Congregation”, it’s always simply awesome! I
like these shredding guitars, killer riffs, impressive leads… Really a lot is
going on in every song, but luckily the music doesn’t feel like it’s too
complex or too technical…
On top of everything I already
written, I must also mention the superb production of “Denouncing the Holy
Throne”, which is just spotless. I like the guitar sound, the drums… the vocals
also… all instruments were perfectly played, so the performance of each Heaving
Earth member is very good. So, I can’t imagine that this album will perish in
the pile of other death metal releases. It just can’t happen. So, maniacs of
the bands I mentioned in this review – don’t waste your time and get Heaving Earth
right now!!!
Standout tracks: “Worms of
Rusted Congregation”, “The Final Crowning”, “I am Nothing”, “Jesus Died”
Final rate: 70/100
No comments:
Post a Comment