ALBUM REVIEW: Evenfall Of The Apocalypse – Ascended Dead
Look, it’s no secret at all that old school death metal is in a wonderful place at the moment. We could insert a long list of the usual suspects here but if you’re spending your free time checking out a site like this then chances are you know all of them already. Essentially then, ASCENDED DEAD are another one of those bands who seem happy to worship at the altars of the scene’s progenitors, although they’re actually a fair bit longer in the tooth than a lot of the bigger names in the scene at the moment, and as their latest effort Evenfall Of The Apocalypse attests they definitely have more of their own thing going on too.
This album is the San Diego-based four-piece’s second full-length effort overall, and though it comes six years after their 2017 debut Abhorrent Manifestation – albeit with plenty of splits, a live album and a boxset of early material to fill the gap in between – it seems the Californians have picked up exactly where that record left off. Much like its predecessor, Evenfall Of The Apocalypse is a jagged, difficult and furiously chaotic death metal record, with a murky, cavernous sound and a near-relentless pace for which full marks must immediately be awarded to drummer Charlie Koryn who also currently holds a venerated spot behind the kit of the legendary MORBID ANGEL.
And if that’s the thing you want most from death metal – the kind of record where it’s best to make sure you’ve got a brown paper bag handy, just in case – then you’ll have a great time here. Evenfall Of The Apocalypse comes absolutely ripping out the gate with Intro / Abhorrent Manifestation (there is definitely something cool about when a band names a song after the title of another of their albums), and with only one exception really, it doesn’t stop from there. It’s deranged and venomous, and even the sub-90-second closer Intransigent Blackness (Outro) seems to take great pleasure in doling out one final blast of violence rather than opting for anything moody or quiet or reflective.
A problem will arise however for anyone who wants a little more from ASCENDED DEAD. At the risk of repeating an excellent Angry Metal Guy review of the band’s previous effort, Evenfall Of The Apocalypse could really do with some more variation, a few more riffs to grab onto perhaps, or maybe a couple of slower, doomier numbers. Hopes of some kind of reprieve with a synth swell at the start of middle track Inverted Ascension are soon dashed as the band come flying in all frantic and dissonant, and the much-needed break doesn’t actually come until ninth track Passage To Eternity – acoustic guitars and an unobtrusive moody pad that could have done with arriving far earlier. Then again, even this one has an unsettled edge to it, and it kicks off pretty fully by the end for arguably the most memorable offering on here.
To be fair to them, the speed at which ASCENDED DEAD prefer to operate generally means this record passes quickly. There is a chance that you might numb to it towards the end, but the real problem with Evenfall Of The Apocalypse has nothing to do with a risk of boredom and instead comes down to the fact that it’s just so relentless and chaotic that it’s hard to take almost anything away from it even after multiple listens. Some will be happy to oblige, of course, but for many others it feels like this record will require a level of perseverance that makes it a pretty hard sell at a time when there is just so much quality death metal around.
Rating: 5/10
Evenfall Of The Apocalypse is set for release on May 12th via 20 Buck Spin.
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