The debut EP from Finland’s Gorephilia was a victim of circumstance. Released earlier this year around the same time and on the same label as Corpsessed‘s debut EP,  it got kind of steam rolled by The Dagger & the Chalice. Which is actually a bit of a shame as Ascend to Chaos, while certainly not as good as The Dagger & the Chalice, is in fact a very tasty little EP of old school doom/death metal in its own right.

Channeling an early ’90s primal death metal tone that culls from Incantation,  Asphyx, Cianide (there’s a very strong Midwest/Chicago doom/death vibe here),  and other murky, doomier early 90s acts, this 28-minute EP isn’t going to make quite the waves that Corpsessed did, but it’s worthy of your time if you enjoy Dark Descent’s other releases and the current, awesome wave of old school death metal revival.

The four pretty long songs (there’s an intro and atmospheric number), all cover a pretty standard churning miasma of atonal mid paced rumbling with cavernous vocals. Loping, double bass canters, slow oozing riffs, some groove and some controlled blasts. Nothing sounds processed or tinny, as the likes of the aptly named “Death, Chaos Doom”, impressive “Reaching the Divine End”, “Give into Madness” and “Tower of Bones” all lurch with a distinct sense of menacing restraint and burly atmospheres that make no pretenses of being anything but old school death metal. But by the same token, it doesn’t come across as a forced homage or cheap knock off as every note drips with a honest sense of ’90s goodness.

Another good release for Dark Descent and while they can’t all be home runs (Miasmal, Undead Creep, Corpsessed, Ilsa, Uncanny reissue and I’m sure the Upcoming Entrails album), this is yet another solid release from a label that’s simply killing it as far as old school death metal goes.

 

 

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