ALBUM REVIEW: Saint Desecration – Azarath

When it comes to blackened death metal, Poland is the place to be. With a wealth of bands both in the underground and pushing into heavy music’s figurative spotlight, the bastard child of blackened atmosphere and death metal aggression is in incredible health. And bridging the gap underground cult-worship and internationally touring outfits, there is AZARATH. With a 20 year history and an extensive back-catalogue, the Poles have built a reputation as one of the most consistent and essential bands in the subgenre – and now they’re back with their seventh full-length; Saint Desecration.

AZARATH‘s seventh record comes as a bit of a milestone for the band. Here, we see the Poles’ first effort since 2009’s Praise the Beast without front man Marek “Necrosodom“ Lechowski, following his 2017 departure. Taking up the mic in his place, AZARATH have called in the services of EMBRIONAL vocalist Marcin “Skullripper” Sienkiel. And he more than lives up to his stage-name.

Saint Desecration doesn’t open with a bang so much as an unholy artillery strike. Death-at-Will crashes in with no fanfare, opting instead to tear out the jugular with its bare teeth. High-intensity, the opening salvo blasts its way through with little subtlety until the blackened flourishes come into full swing, while Sancta Dei Meretrix as a groovier swing amid the brutality. Let Them Burn… follows, keeping the intensity and momentum rolling ever-forward, but offering little in the way of variation. Skullripper really outdoes himself from the get-go, showing a far superior vocal delivery here than we’ve seen from EMBRIONAL – raw, harsh and abrasive, Saint Desecration already shows a career-best vocal performance from him, even in these opening tracks.

Kicking off the album’s midsection, Fall of the Blessed brings a stomping introductory groove before blackened dissonance and crushing speed take control. There’s some blindingly good solo work here – an underused element of AZARATH‘s arsenal – and overall the track has a bit more of a memorable lean than what has been delivered thus far. No Salvation proves that AZARATH truly shine when they give themselves even just a little bit more breathing room. That extra minute might not seem like much, but that extra bit of space allows the quartet to create a truly Hell-ish atmosphere right off the bat.

It’s the closing duo of Inflicting Blasphemy Upon the Heavens and Beyond the Gates of Burning Ghats that really shine as highlights of Saint Desecration, though. Embracing their strongest MORBID ANGEL meets MAYHEM vibes, the penultimate track is short, sweet and to the point – just shy of four minutes of pure, uncompromising brutality. But final track Beyond the Gates of Burning Ghats is really something special. The most atmospheric and blackened track on Saint Desecration, its closing offering loses nothing in heaviness or aggression, rather proving to be an amalgamation of AZARATH‘s hardest hitting strengths – atmosphere, unsettling melody, and balls-to-the-wall brutality.

AZARATH may appear on listeners’ radars due to Inferno‘s place behind the kit in BEHEMOTH – but make no mistake, the band are worthy of your attention in their own right. With a savage foundation of punishing rhythms, breakneck speed and suffocating intensity all highlighted and enhanced with blackened overtones and atmosphere, Saint Desecration is an end-of-year rager. The record may be absent from end-of-year lists due to its late release, but nonetheless this is one of the most brutalising slabs of blasphemy to be unleashed in 2020.

Rating: 8/10

Saint Desecration is out now via Agonia Records. 

Like AZARATH on Facebook.