Here’s a pretty solid debut EP from French act Diluvian (meaning a “deluge”) that combines melodic death metal and modern polished brutality (I hate to use the term deathcore here) into a impressive 5 song EP that holds a lot of promise.

Though I’ve seen the term ‘deathcore’ thrown about in regards to this release (and even Deepsend’s promo sheet name drops Beneath the Massacre and Despised Icon), I don’t hear it, and personally this lot reminds me more of fellow Frenchmen Benighted as far as their take on brutal but controlled and polished death metal. I also hear some Floridian death metal, some Amon Amarth and some typical Danish/Belgian chunk in here also. The end result is an EP that despite the triggered, polished sound and duel vocals, is far more pure death metal than the label and press would lead you to believe.

The mix of brutality and melody is perfected on standout tracks “Inhumanity Remains” with its killer melodic mid song and ending song bridges and closer “Meration Cycles”, which delivers a stunning, synth laden, epic climax. On the flip side penultimate track “Blastin’ Dead” is a no nonsense, blistering affair, and while some may take the huge lurch in “You’re Wretched” as a ‘breakdown’, it doesn’t change the fact it’s a fine track that switches from burly brutality to a swathe of melodic carnage on a dime-Diluvian’s apparent M.O throughout this tasty little EP. Throw in a beefy, tight production from thrash/power metal mastermind Pierre-Emmanuel Pélisson (Maladaptive & Heavenly), and the end result is 20 minutes of very enjoyable death metal.

With this all to brief entry into French death metal, Diluvian look to have all the tools to make somewhat of an impact and give Deepsend a nice send off to 2008, finding yet a another impressively stout European death metal act (Dawn of Demise) amid a sea of US mimicry.

[Visit the band's website]

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