ALBUM REVIEW: Insatiable Thirst For Torment – Celestial Sanctuary
Four-piece East Anglian riff merchants CELESTIAL SANCTUARY have been delivering crushingly powerful death metal since 2019. Their debut album Soul Diminished, released in 2021, earned widespread critical acclaim and helped catapult a new wave of home-grown UK death metal. These last few years have been an exciting time to be a fan of metal and particularly the death sub-genre as bands have been issuing colossal albums and performing formidable live shows, and CELESTIAL SANCTUARY are firmly recognised as an important banner bearer for the scene. With shows alongside legends such as OBITUARY and lauded newcomers FROZEN SOUL, the band have made their presence felt in the live area too. Not counting the Soul Diminished Redux release which featured live recordings, Insatiable Thirst For Torment is the next instalment in a torrent of modern death metal.
Not content with being viewed as simply another old school death metal act trading on past riffs and themes of the genre, CELESTIAL SANCTUARY have harnessed a heavier and faster approach to their sound to drive a more contemporary sound. This is immediately apparent from opening track Trapped Within The Rank Membrane. With a suitably rancid sounding title, the opening riff kicks things off building upon this theme. It oozes a sludgy groove before the tempo gets kicked up a notch with a charging drum beat and the remaining full band throws together a wall of sound. The guttural growls of Thomas Cronin serve up a tremendous extra layer to the all-encompassing sonic assault, delivering a melody linked closely with the chugging riffs that pull everything together.
While the initial three singles of Biomineralization (Cell Death), The Lurid Glow Of A Dead, Burning Body and Swivel Eyed And Gurning In The Shadows collectively offer up a prime sample of how CELESTIAL SANCTUARY have progressed, there is still so much more to uncover within this album. The second of those three singles identifies a solid groove and pace that runs throughout the whole album. The title track picks up on these cues and delivers them with even more gusto. Meandering Stream Of Foul Fluid, however, harkens back to a more old school death metal delivery. Maintaining this new and more dynamic range that CELESTIAL SANCTUARY are beginning to make their own, there is still something to be said for a colossal sounding track that offers the audio equivalent of an all-consuming titan. The pummelling sound created is one of many stand out moments on this near perfect encapsulation of modern death metal.
While the quartet have evidently got a handle on the direction, they want to continuously evolve their sound. Their musicianship is of the calibre to execute varies stylistic elements and blend in outside influences into their overall sound. While having a collective of highly talented musicians with a united vision is not unique, it is something that enables a genre as murky as death metal to flourish. Many bands can have a wonderful concept of their style but fall short in the delivery. Not the case here. Coupled with their abilities for songwriting is the monstrous mix for this album; everything is crystal clear in its presentation all the while sounding appropriately filthy. It’s a sound that makes you want to return to the record time and again but leaves your ears feeling dirt encrusted… in a good way.
With Insatiable Thirst For Torment, CELESTIAL SANCTUARY have absolutely nailed their second album release. For fans of death metal, there is a little element of everything neatly tied together and delivered with precision. On the face of it, they’re a band not taking things too seriously – Glutted With Chunder, isn’t a high brow sentence – but that’s the point; they’ve got the humour spot on where it matters, but the musical aspect and the riffs are earnest when it counts. This is sure to feature very high on end of year lists everywhere.
Rating: 10/10
Insatiable Thirst for Torment is set for release on August 25th via Church Road Records
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