Rites of Daath - Hexing Graves

RITES OF DAATH - Hexing Graves (GODZ OV WAR Productions - CD 2017)

I have no idea if there's a special for finding all these new killer bands in the vast underworld, but it looks like Godz ov War Productions are quite good at that. They just released debut CD of a band called Rites of Daath and I'm really fuckin impressed with their "Hexing Graves" EP. I'm honest, it's one of the better debuts from this year! But here comes a funny part. I've checked some info about Rites of Daath on Metal Archives and it turns out that they were called Cemetery Whore before. And I know Cemetery Whore, because I have the "Infected by Old School" split CD they shared with bands like Hell United. And I also have "Deathlike Passages" (2016) cassette, which I bought from the band, but haven't even remembered to play it yet. And now it turns out that Cemetery Whore is dead and Rites of Daath arose from their still hot and trembling ashes as new band. Where was I, that I've never heard of it? 

And well, I have to say that after this change of the name, these guys jumped on completely new level, because the quality of Rites of Daath music is much better than Cemetery Whore's. And I really mean it! This EP not only sounds much more mature and interesting, with much better quality, but it also shows a different musical direction, which these guys took. While Cemetery Whore played some sort of ugly and harsh thrashing old school death metal, Rites of Daath plays obscure and cold death metal, in the vein of the likes of Incantation, Necros Christos, Impetuous Ritual, Dead Congregation, Cruciamentum, Funebrarum and all such bands, which bring an utter sonic destruction with their grim music. I think that this style has become slightly trendy recently, especially if you look at how many releases from labels such as Invictus or Dark Descent come with that sort of music, but I don't care, because surprisingly Rites of Daath does sound awesome and it doesn't present lesser quality to the bands I mentioned. I truly think they have nothing to be ashamed of and "Hexing Graves" is an excellent offer for the maniacs of such cryptic sounds. 

I love that massively heavy, sometimes very doomy, but always incredibly brutal and vicious style of morbid death metal, I love that intensity and eeriness these riffs have. There are also fantastic ghoulish vocals and the special, sepulchral aura that bands like Rites of Daath evoke. And what I like about "Hexing Graves" is that unlike few similar bands, their songs actually do have memorable riffs and don't sound like a monotonous and forgettable wall of riffs. Every song has something that stands out, with crushing riffs that I just fuckin love. I don't even know if I prefer when Rites of Daath plays doomy, slow parts or if they speed up, because every time it all sounds crushing and the music is arranged in super great way. They had enough good ideas for "Hexing Graves", the performance and production are also super good, so there's nothing I could moan about. 

So... I am very, very impressed by "Hexing Graves", I could listen to it over and over again... I even like it more than new Anima Damnata album. I just hope many maniacs will support and appreciate Rites of Daath music and damn, I want to hear more such killer music from them in the future!!!!! 

Standout tracks: "Necromantic Rites of the Underground", "Most Holy Death" 

Verdict: 90/100