ALBUM REVIEW: Arkanum – Spit On Your Grave
Since the release of their debut album Existential Murderer in 2014, Mexico’s SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE have done a great job of being consistently intense and ferocious. As the band have gained experience and traction, however, their sound has noticeably begun to shift away from the sort of dense, raw death metal that was present on their debut, with its follow-up The Night Of Women’s Rites adopting a sharper, focused quality that shed much of the band’s old school sound and style in favour of sharper, more melody-driven compositions, lending their thick, heavy sound a catchy edge that made them even more compelling. Their newest album Arkanum refines this mix of styles even further and, along with a much slicker, more polished production, has allowed them to create an album that is far removed in terms of musicianship and sound from their earlier records.
The Infection is a powerful start to the record, with angular guitars and ferocious drumming creating a sound that shifts between caustic aggression and slick melodicism easily, with the equally diverse approach to the vocals, which take in dense gutturals and searing shrieks, matching the energy of the music to make for a varied and catchy opening gambit that immediately commands the listener’s attention. The Heretic adopts the same blend of punchy melodeath with a strong, brutal backbone, with the intricate musicianship and acerbic vocals once again meaning that each section of the track bleeds into the next whilst still being incredibly accessible, coupling harshness and polish with an impressive amount of skill.
Vigilia, with its harder, mid-paced sound, opts for chunky grooves and percussive drums, along with discordant guitars and throaty vocal deliveries, moving away from the technical and overtly rabid style that features on the preceding offerings, although the cacophonous bursts and sharp leads are still present to create a primal and punishing feel. Into The Devil’s Realm goes in the opposite direction, ramping up the majestic, soaring side of the band’s guitar playing. The menacing rumble of the drums and bass fleshes out the core sound significantly, while the bellicose bark of the vocals stands in stark contrast with the lighter tone of the rest of the music, with the sound present here being significantly more epic.
Dark Lullaby is a slow-burning, biting piece of music, with the monstrous growl of the vocals once again vying with the stringent guitars and frenetic undercurrent, incorporating a broader mix of styles and creating one of the album’s most inventive efforts in the process. Broken Hourglass continues in a similar vein, but possesses a tighter, more focused sound that draws heavily from classic death metal for inspiration, with feral flourishes and sharp riffs that the last track had. The pristine production that underpins this whole album does a lot to accentuate the subtler elements and some of the progressive moments that play a substantial role in the middle of this number.
Self Sacrifice reverts to a muscular, rhythmic sound, with the galloping drums and sludgy bass providing some solid foundations upon which some of the most imaginative, abrasive leads and visceral vocals are overlaid, with some brilliant, dissonant motifs thrown into the mix for good measure, making this arguably one of this album’s most caustic slabs. The March Of The Innocents, with its melancholic, dramatic guitars and militaristic drumming, injects a little death-doom into the initial sound, before ratcheting up the tempo and intensity and returning to a noxious style. The expansive tones, acoustic interludes and forceful backing vocals play up to the bombastic edge that a song like In The Devil’s Realm captured so well, but embraces this side of the band’s songwriting in a more measured way, adding interesting ideas into the sound of this album even as it comes to a conclusion.
There are very few albums that manage to strike a fine balance between light and melodic elements with a weighty and feral sound in the way that Arkanum does. Although the record does have a consistently adventurous and vitriolic approach to a purer style of death metal, it’s not without its magnificent touches, from the symphonic pomp and bombast of In The Devil’s Realm through to the sharper, more modern stylings of tracks like Vigilia and Dark Lullaby. It’s clear that in the six years since the release of The Night Of Women’s Rites, the band have managed to trim the vast majority of fat there was in their sound, with the varied and imaginative mix of styles that are present here sounding excellent, and giving them a wide-ranging sound that very few bands in the underground are able to boast. Holding this up for comparison with the first two albums is stark, with SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE in their current form feeling far more invigorated and ready to take on the world than the band that they were previously.
Rating: 8/10
Arkanum is out now via Concerto Records.
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