So Mexico is getting in on this retro death metal resurgence with Ominous Crucifix and their take on cavernous, gnarly simple old school Incantation-y death metal. And while Ominous Crucifix don’t really do anything wrong on The Spell of Damnation, the album is still a pretty average effort resulting in one of FDA Rekotz’s weaker releases.

Granted, the mood and tone here is spot on with Mortal Throne of Nazerene melding of muddy blast beats and more loose doomy passages and distant cavernous bellows. But other than a couple of moments here and there, the songs just don’t quite fully flesh out the overall feel of nostalgia, even with titles like “Defiling the Altars of absent God” and “Repulsive Sanctification of the Absurd”.  Of course, The Spell of Damnation is in the unfortunate situation of competing against the likes of Blasperian, Disma, Funerus, Corpsessed and other like minded acts, so the bar is set pretty high, but even without the weight of those comparisons, Ominous Crucifix fall a bit short.

That being said, if you really crave something to hold you over until the upcoming Incantation reunion album, you could do worse. At times, Ominous Crucifix have the sound and structure pretty well nailed, and occasionally pull everything off convincingly. After the shaky start of “Third Day Resurrection” which serves as sort of an intro and actually sounds like a different band, the loping chorus of “Putrid Purity” is the album’s highlight along with the slower “Secular Omens of Death” teasing at a band that could be something pretty good in this crowded genre. But the rest of the tracks just don’t really do anything or go anywhere. The same drum pattern pretty much fills each song and there’s no real sense of dynamics to make any of them stand out beyond a murky rumble. There’s just no consistency.

Luckily, FDA Rekotz has the upcoming Blood Mortized, Lifeless, Massive Assault and Revel In Flesh albums to put them back on track and further the label’s old school death metal dominance. Dark Descent Records has better pick it up.

 

 

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