Stand up and be counted. This grinding deathcore blast from Australia’s Aversions Crown comes with regulation brutality. Whispering tones linger behind the sheer violence and power of “Prismatic Abyss”. Pummelling and rapid fire-drums lead the murderous death growls but with clever breaks and constant drama, this is really rather special. Of course hissing hatred does not give any clue what the lyrics are about but the almost eastern and most certainly ominous vibe of the deathly “The Soulless Acolyte” leaves us in no doubt. “Hybridization” starts like a swarm of bees in a void, before the clinically controlled grind assault continues with a second layer in there as reinforcement. Another of those clever breaks takes us into darker and musically exotic territory. It is brutal and stinging, slowing down to a deathly march, loads of bass, triggers and more hissing. It’s hypnotic, and easy to get hooked on.
These songs are clever constructed, and on “Erebus” we find that the sophistication takes another level with melody added to the brutality and drama. The dramatic atmosphere continues into “Ophiophagy”, another song with personality which vividly and creatively expresses misery and pain. Slowing down, the vocalist speaks of “the sacrifice falling on my soulless eyes”. The theatricality and rancid tension have a strong air of Carach Angren. It is the stuff of nightmares and horror. Growls and hisses are the continuing backdrop to this merciless and turbulent tale. Violent blasts, deep and echoing malevolence, bass to blow your brains out, a clock ticks down: such is “The Oracles of Existence”. I can’t get out of my head that’s there something Swedish or maybe Finnish about this epic brutality. It’s black, it’s death, it’s clinical, it’s furious and the melodic riffs of “Cynical Entity” are so Scandinavian. It makes for a very enjoyable adventure. There is a change of direction from “Stillborn Existence”, which with “Cycles of Haruspex” and “Misery” heads into more rancid deathly territory. Aversions Crown have a varied repertoire, and I have to say I preferred the drama and vigour of the first seven or eight tracks, but there is no denying that there is a pungent and dynamic atmosphere in these deep and deathly odes. And after all the earlier upsurge, it’s as if we are invited to our own funeral as the album ends with “Odium”. There’s definitely two sides to this band, and that didn’t work totally for me.
It probably helped that I first listened to this after having an argument with some smug, self-satisfied individual organising a rail replacement bus service, and so the expression of anger reflected a mood. But this is far from a straightforward expression of anger. “Xenocide” has deep structures and patterns, and all the anger and controlled aggression weave their way through great riffs, overlays and switches. And that’s what makes this album such a great one to listen to.
(8/10 Andrew Doherty)
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