I haven’t received any promos from Germany’s’ Bastardized Recordings in years, going back to the likes of Six Reasons to Kill, Deadsoil, Soulgate’s Dawn and Feast for the Crows metalcore days of the mid 00s. But they have been fairly busy since then, if not as productive, including the discography from homeland death metal  act Ichor, including, this, the band’s solid third album.

You’d be forgiven if you missed this amid the tech /brutal death onslaught of 2014, and while this has a very slight deathcore vibe, it’s a its base one of those big burly modern death metal records along the lines of Deep In Hate.,  Fit for An Autopsy, As You Drown, The Red Shore, Those Who Lie Beneath, Aversion’s Crown and such. It’s hardy original and when compared to the slew of quality 2014 releases, nor does not stand out, but on its own merit, its a solid modern death metal record.

Like most of the mechanized modern death metal, the band still has some old school hues such as Vader and Behemoth pulsing under the mechanized, polished assault, just with added heft and speed, but it’s never completely over processed or sterile as with some of their peers.  And like Soreption, a few tiny orchestral and more controlled spurts litter the otherwise brutal proceedings that are littered with unrelenting brute force, breakdowns and dual vocals such as “Apophis”, “The Beasts Approach”, “Deny Your God”,” and “Ra’iroa” which all deliver big , commanding, churning, merciless salvos.

But it’s those few moments where some promise shows through the relentlessness blasting, as shown on “Leviathan”  , rare slow burner “Desire of the Depths” or the more varied standouts “While Giants Sleep”, and epic 6 and a half minute closer, “Hadal Sirens” where you can see a damn good band ripping through the deathcore/modern death metal cliches.

[Visit the band's website]

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