Of the bands adopting the Execration moniker the Norwegian version is by far the most prolific with three gutter trawling filth riddled death metal albums already slithering around the underground making rancid ripples, with the bands last repugnant effort “Morbid Dimensions” being a particularly vitriolic demonstration in all things disgustingly deathly in 2014.

Advancing forward and taking things further for their fourth album an alluring intro piece that starts the album on “Eternal Recurrence” is quickly obliterated as a menacing occult like riff oozes gelatinously alongside the rolling drum work. There is an organic substance to this album within the production and instrumentation as you can hear every component as the vocals etch into your soul scarring and etching at the very fabric of your psyche. Far too often bands within the death metal sphere aim for polish making their albums sterile, devoid of substance as “Hammers Of Vulcan” continues to rain down percussive fire within strafing riffs and carpet bombing bass runs that make the song chaotic but with high potent intent.

Taking the listener into realms of psychedelic tumult “Cephalic Transmissions” is ghoulish with its eerily played intro section and punchy bass work creating a canvas of utmost grisly horror. As the track unfurls it gathers momentum ready for the gnarly vocals to be spat forth with an aura of blackened malice as the drums inject reams of fills to devastating effect throughout the song and the album as a whole and are a standout adding colossal amounts of texture to the songs as the guitar careers into thrash like guitar hooks before abruptly stopping for a serenely creepy section that sits neatly in the song ready for the finale. A short interlude titled “Blood Moon Eclipse” leads nicely into “Unicursal Horrorscope” and initially I was scribbling down sounds like a brasher version of Ghost which is true to some extent as the song writing has that occult feeling and even possesses a rock like beat initially. As the song develops the apparitional like vocals make way for the song to become ever denser as the speed increases almost unnoticed, the bass work is intensifying and the vocals become crueller. As I mentioned earlier the drum work on this album is outstanding, saturating with personality.

The title track is possibly one of the more straightforward songs of the album, but I use that phrase loosely as the song still undergoes many transformations from the initial death ‘n’ roll manifestations into half blasted death metal territory before changing masks into a sublime death rock style with each conversion glued together by some wondrous bass riffing making the song a real standout on the album. The album ends with “Det Uransakelige Dyp” and sees the band dip their toes completely into occult rock, with a sweeping deft guitar melody and crunching bass line. The wispy vocals have a throatiness too which works brilliantly as the song gathers force and the drums send the track into blast beat territory momentarily. The fluidity that this band has within their song writing is staggering, even when the songs seem to abruptly shift from one style to another each change is positioned for maximum effect.

Few albums really make you sit up and take notice, but Execration’s “Return To The Void” will, it is a staggering release and challenges the concepts of death metal’s norms and you definitely need to hear it.

(9/10 Martin Harris)

http://www.execration.no

https://www.facebook.com/execrationnorway

https://execrationnorway.bandcamp.com/album/return-to-the-void