De Profundis are a UK band who completely bypassed me having formed about the same time I left there for life on the continent in 2005. Apparently starting out devoted to doom, these Londoners have since evolved into more of a progressively minded extreme/black metal act over the course of three albums and an EP – at least according to The Metal Archives. With album number four, ‘Kingdom of the Blind’, serving as my introduction to De Profundis, I would say that they sit firmly rooted in the progressive/technical death metal end of the metal spectrum. But labels aside, they kick up quite the storm whichever way you want to refer to their music…
The enigmatic ‘Overture’ draws us in before blasts and a wall of intriguingly layered, swirling guitars surround us in ‘Kult of the Orthodox’. Craig Land’s vocals are an angular, guttural roar which contrast well with the technically minded and sophisticated nature of the music. Names such as Death, Atheist and Cynic necessarily spring to mind as technical death metal flourish follows technical death metal flourish – the latter especially so the further in we get. Throughout the opening numbers, and across the breadth of the album really, De Profundis achieves quite the feat for a band of their progressive ilk in that no matter what diversions they go on, the song writing remains undeniably catchy. In part this is thanks to the way in which they refuse to dwell on any one sequence for too long – be it spidery excursions, fits of rampant speed or odd moments in which guitar notes emanate like tendrils. Above all, the evidence on ‘Kingdom of the Blind’ simply points to the band having a refined knowledge of what they do.
Going back to that earlier reference to Cynic’s pioneering experimentalism, there are a couple of aspects dotted about the album that personally I’m not so keen on. ‘All Consuming’ delves into a jazzy interlude, complete with some clunky narration. And on ‘Beyond the Threshold’, not to mention the other odd place or two, the bass has free rein to trumpily flourish in traditional fretless progressive fashion. The caveat to these specific criticisms however is that in each case, the diversions are brief, plus it’s possible to appreciate the effect the band was going for in employing such techniques. In fact the overall feel of ‘Kingdom of the Blind’ is an overriding one of momentum. A track which certainly embodies this is ‘A Strange Awakening’. Initially jumping back and forth with riffs and blast-beats, in what can best be diagnosed as a case of Musical Personality Disorder, the track settles ominously and expertly down to a slower pace. As with the rest of the disc, the solos which transpire are technically brilliant yet equally full of soul.
That last mentioned aspect of solo work can be extended as a metaphor for the impressiveness of De Profundis as a whole. They are technically great and equally progressive in their aims yet neither of these ambitions diminishes the musicians’ ability to produce absorbing songs. In this respect, these guys exhibit an uncomplicated old school approach. The music runs a gamut of moods and tempos without coming across as the least bit laborious or pretentious and, as stated earlier, a sense of momentum is retained pretty much throughout ‘Kingdom of the Blind’. Rarely do I find progressive death metal so engaging.
(8.5/10 Jamie)
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