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Other than a few flaws, this was well worth the wait.-
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| Spectral Mortuary: Total Depravity |
Death Metal
Deepsend Records
January 17th, 2012
- Absorbing the Bloodline - 4:19
- Time to Decay - 3:49
- Purulent Mass - 3:18
- Bestial Sanctity - 3:58
- Found in Feces - 4:06
- Lapidated - 4:25
- Torturous Attainment - 3:35
- Defects of Depravity - 2:45
- Compulsory Decimation - 2:36
- Strychnine Hill - 4:30
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| Review Information |
Release length: 38:40
Review posted on January 3rd, 2012
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| | Overall Score: 8.5/10 |
 
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
From Hate Incarnated (2007) • Total Depravity (2012)
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| Demo(s): |
Among Corpses in the Mortuary (2003) • Necrophilistic Art (2005) • Promo 2006 (2006)
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| Review |
Back in 2003, Denmark saw the formation of a still relatively unknown Death Metal group called Spectral Mortuary. Over the years, the group issued three demo recordings, starting in 2003, then again for 2005, and another in 2006. The following year, the group's debut album came out through Mighty Music, and it received a good of positive feedback despite not really having all that strong a promotional push. It's been about four or five years since then, and the band returns signed to Deepsend Records to unleash their follow-up, an album largely awaited by the underground circles and fans. Total Depravity is a release that is long overdue, but has this time helped the band top their debut offering, or does this album simply not live up to their fan's expectations?
The audio quality of the album shows a strong production and confidence all around. The music hear has a pretty clean and modern sound, taking advantage of the digital medium without losing any of the bite in their music. The overall tone of the album feels punishing and even brutalizing at times, of course depending on the mood of the song, and is nicely established through a deeper bass presence. The guttural vocals are crisp, leaving the listenable able to comprehend much of the lyrics in it's moderately higher, yet richly commanding performance that is matched well with the drums that simply feel dominating. The cymbals take control of filling the music nicely, crashing loudly against the snares that are at a slightly less volume level, matching the louder click of the bass kicks well enough to not blend the two parts of the kit together, which sounds a lot better when there's more music that cover them since, when it becomes a little more open, the kicks can sound a little too open and illfitting to the rather brutal sound the group is trying to go for. The guitars mask this issue well when they are utilized more in the music and not during the slower passages that are clearly geared to weave a bit of an unnerving atmosphere to the release. The distortion is just right, giving this instrument enough of an edge that is backed well by the deeper bass guitar which has a very subtle presence, doing it's job quite well in a manner that doesn't seem as if it's pushing itself forward in the mix in an effort to specifically be noticed among the rest of the instruments.
With a great quality to the music, it's hard to picture that Spectral Mortuary would present some generic, half-hearted material to the listener. Thankfully, that is not at all what you get. Aside the kicks that honestly are just a little too loud, this album is just one solid, brutalizing track after another right from the start. Total Depravity may actually be just shy of thirty-nine minutes, but you'll walk away feeling like it's maybe half that. Granted, "Absorbing the Bloodline" actually starts things off in a manner that seems to feel like it goes on for ages, but shortly after an introduction meant to establish that creepy tone to the album, the blistering Death Metal kicks in with much tighter and commanding aggression, setting up what to expect a lot easier than the introduction here does. The song retains a faster pace well from start to finish, shifting into some mid-tempo grooves that incorporate some faster drumming, but far from the blast beat approach you find at the start, post-introduction chords of course, as well as at the very end of the track. But, when these slower sections are executed right, and the music still sounds as rich as the faster material does, it can lead to some really crushing and aggressive material. "Time to Decay" does have moments where the loud bass kicks can seem a little too much against open-ended passages, but overall the Thrash-attitude of the slower, commanding music really comes through with that additional groove to the music that makes you want to head bang along while the song leaves you feeling as if it had curb stomped you the whole way through.
But even those two don't really speak for what's to come. While "Absorbing the Bloodline" and "Time to Decay" are still strong tracks, the pace picks up immediately after them. "Bestial Sanctity" is easily one of the strongest tracks here, and one of the many that will have the listener's head banging along the second the song starts. This one erupts into a pounding Death Metal frenzy with an undeniable authoritive groove that suits the varying shifts in pace throughout the song. The same goes for a good number of other songs on the album, including "Defects of Depravity." This track hammers away at the listener with a crushing approach that will crush any that oppose it. It has plenty of seemless shifts from one speed and sound to another, a great deal of energy, and even has a slight hint of a Middle Eastern sound at times when closing into the end. Whether intentional or not, it's the only time it comes into play for Total Depravity, but it sounds fantastic when it hits. The short track length will easily leave you wanting more, which is where "Compulsory Decimation" comes in. It may not have an immediate head bang intensity to the explosive start, but it won't take long before you find yourself wanting to do that at the very least along with the punishment the track dishes out with it's furious atmosphere, and fast, energetic approach.
But that's not all this album offers, and definitely not all its good for either. Its from the point of "Bestial Sanctity" that the album really picks up, staying rather consistant to what this song, as well as "Purulent Mass" have to offer. There are a few moments where the material just doesn't feel like it lives up to these tracks, and in a way reverts back to the start of the album. This does give a little extra variety to the material that wouldn't normally be there, and present a more serious tone then a simply aggressive atmosphere. "Lapidated," for example, is not the most energetic of the songs, and takes on a bit of a typical Death Metal approach while still holding onto more modern Death Metal concepts. The groove is there, though not as strong in some areas. The guitar solo here also doesn't really work out too well with the pace. This causes the song to just sound a little more generic than it really could have been, being saved somewhat by the more intense and aggressive elements that Spectral Mortuary use quite often through the album such as the machine gun bass kicks that keep a faster sense against the chugging music. "Torturous Attainment" actually does a better job at the slower material, simply by really establishing a strong haunting atmosphere, and laying off the blistering bass kicks. This allows the creepier tones of the guitars to shine through, and work with the other parts of the kit for much of the song. There's also a good amount of transitioning done to make the kicks work better here in the long run, as well as not have them executed in such a quick manner to make the sections where they are more prominant weave a bit of a hopeless tone.
One spin through Total Depravity and you'll see what Spectral Mortuary is a lesser known Death Meta group that really deserves to be noticed. While this album may not be any stronger than their debut, Total Depravity just hits the listeners hard from the start until the very end, offering a decent amount of variety, and while not all elements or parts found scattered about this effort work out that well, it's all still handled with a commanding presence that doesn't make you feel like the band handled it in a manner befitting the term "filler." With a great deal of energy and an intensity that will leave many fans feeling bludgeoned in it's wake, there's no reason any self-respecting fan of Death Metal should avoid this album. Considering the roughly four, five yeare wait for this album to drop since their 2007 debut, it definitely winds up being a release that was worth the wait.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Deepsend Records. |
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