ALBUM REVIEW: Fury and Malevolence – Oath of Damnation

Adelaide’s OATH OF DAMNATION are one of the shining lights of the Australian extreme metal underground. Although not the most prolific with their recorded output OATH OF DAMNATION have made up for the lack of quantity with the impressive quality of their music. Everything from their 2012 demo to their debut album, The Descent, is a masterful and beguiling blend of black and death metal, with plenty of symphonic and thrash elements thrown liberally into the equation, resulting in a sound that is as varied as it is fantastic. Their long awaited second album, Fury and Malevolence, comes some six years after its predecessor, and boasts a reinvigorated line up and a much more focused and driven sound than on their previous releases.

Imhullu, with its haunting, atmospheric intro, blends ambience, minimalist keyboards and acoustic guitars together and is an ominous way to start. It’s a slow burning piece of music that eventually shifts into a tight and razor sharp black metal offering with some heady symphonic elements thrown in for good measure. The Abortuary is a dense and frenetic slab of thrash inflected death metal with some imaginative guitar work, monstrous drumming and brilliantly arid vocal deliveries that all come together to make for some dark, aggressive blackened death metal. Ardenti Haereticus, a bombastic, monolithic track which bursts to life on a sea of organs, immediately hooks the listener and takes a more symphonic black metal approach to its compositions, sounding not too far removed OLD MAN’S CHILD or latter day BAL SAGOTH. The keyboards are the focal point of the track, remaining high in the mix and acting as an anchor around which the rest of the music starts to take shape.

With Fire and Malevolence, the album’s pseudo-title track, sees OATH OF DAMNATION start to embrace their death and thrash influences. The shrill, shrieking vocals are still very much rooted within black metal, but the fierce rhythmic assault of the guitars and the chaotic, punishing blast of the drums give this a strong Death Metal feel. There’s a few symphonic flourishes added to the mix, but they take a noticeable back seat to the more crushing sound of the guitars and bass. To Crack the Earth and Bring Down the Sky has some of the most impressive keyboard motifs on the whole album, with some fantastic, complex moments kicking this song off. The bulk of the music manages to strike a good balance between the black and death Metal elements,  ducking and weaving between epic grandiosity and pure vitriol. In Death’s Dominion is a track with an angelic sound at certain points. It’s another short song, but OATH OF DAMNATION are more than capable of crafting an immersive and enduring song that draws the listener in, making this one of the better offerings on Fury and Malevolence.

I Curse Thee, O’ Lord!, with its huge, expansive sound and much more measured pace, quickly morphs into an energetic and cacophonous whirlwind of demented, descending guitars and thunderous drums, with the vocals carving through the mix and adding a ferocious and feral exclamation point to the vast majority of the music. This is a song that ties together many of the elements that have made this album great, from groove laden death metal hooks to majestic keyboards, with lots of progressive, virtuoso musicianship spread throughout which helps to give this an incredibly diverse sound that is in equal parts powerful and vicious, bringing this album to a close on an extremely high note.

In terms of its musical approach, with prominent keyboards, technical and progressive elements and a solid death metal undercurrent, Fury and Malevolence could be regarded as a spiritual successor to NOCTURNUS‘ classic album The Key. It’s clear that NOCTURNUS were a key influence on this album, but more prominent black metal elements being thrown into the mix and a sharper production helps the album stand on its own merits. Fury and Malevolence sees the band develop and master their sound, and it will be interesting to see if OATH OF DAMNATION are capable of overcoming the lofty benchmark they have set for themselves here.

Rating: 9/10

Fury and Malevolence is out now via Gore House Productions. 

Like OATH OF DAMNATION on Facebook.