This is a first full length release from Stockholm’s Desolator. Yes – death metal, mere copycats of the Swedeath sound – no. Desolator previously entertained us with a split release with Resurgency, this full length has quite a few older tracks on it, with only three of the twelve being brand new.
Older tunes like ‘Feeding Frenzy’ and Age of Annihilation’ hit the spot; they have a Swedish tone with marginal tendencies towards an older US style of death metal in the music, a kind of hybrid of two key styles. Far from being technical, this is more bare bones earthy music and it’s certainly not a trip through Disneyland, nor is it for the faint-hearted. The downside to this release is the slightly thin snare drum sound; overall it doesn’t mask any of the music played, but with the band having such a powerful guitar tone its ends up missing an opportunity of what potential these songs could have had in terms of boosted sound quality. New tracks such as ‘The Triumph of Death’ are a good indication of further development but this doesn’t mean their older tracks are out of place, there is a genuine level of consistency in their output matched with some sinister atmospherics keeping you alert during some of the rotten lyrical content.
All in all, this is a nice album laden with a touch of the nasty but has missed its potential to be sonically more brutal.
(7/10 Paul Maddison)
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