Anyone in London who didn’t make the 2-day Finnfest at The Garage in February is probably kicking themselves now as it would have been one of the last shows before lockdown kicked in. Although not on the bill, Proscription would have fitted right in with their band of blackened death metal due to vocalist / guitarist Christbutcher having once been in the highly respected band Maveth and guitarist Cruciatus no doubt there himself on duties with Lantern. I noted their debut album Conduit getting quite a lot of attention and dark praise before plucking its leftover corpse from our reviews list and settled down for a listen hoping for some grimy filth.
In that respect the album did not disappoint but then again it offered little in the way of large surprises and conceived ideas of what it would sound like proved to be on the spot. Nothing particularly wrong with that and a tried and tested formula giving people what they want is part of what things are all about. On the other hand though there’s a large feeling of deja-vu about it all and plenty of others playing a similar style to contend with. Not sure about the classical opening instrumental easing one in rather than providing an instant slap around the face but calm before the storm and all that. Bristling in ‘I, the Burning Son’ provides rumbling might and powerful rugged drumming and is backed up by raw gruff growls from the aforementioned Christbutcher and some suitably delivered backing clamour adding to them. What I do like about this is the stealth behind it, this is not all about full on assault but has a doomy demeanour at times rumbling on like an unstoppable force with the brutality behind it slowly crushing all in its wake. There’s some good slithering guitar lines that lovers of bands such as Morbid Angel and Immolation will definitely approve of and a dank and grimy vibe akin to being thrown into a deep dark pit and being left to fester. Tracks are left to the 4-5minute mark and don’t outstay their welcome but the similarity between them does see attention waning and this could easily be looked upon as somewhat workmanlike to all but the most ardent of death metal fanatic.
Still the entwining dark melodies are at times quite delicious and blossom amidst the oozing slimy mainframe of tracks such as ‘Radiant Midnight’ with its maliciously crawling pace rearing up suddenly into a thudding tempest. Gravid roars fill in the gaps and as ‘Thy Black Nimbus Gate’ apocalyptic melody takes hold complete with some squealing guitar tones its obvious that this lot’s black mass offers little in the way of mercy or compromise. Adding a bit of deranged Egyptology to the table never did a band like this any harm and invitation accepted to sit down at the ‘Blessed Feast of Black Seth’ with some neat scything guitar work bloody backing chants and stomping gravitas makes the track one Fuad Ramses would approve of whilst cooking up his grizzly party delights. The album’s longest track actually proves itself to be one of its highlights. Still I had mixed feelings about this album and whereas some may well have this high in end of year charts I just didn’t find it original enough to be as compelling as I would have liked. Extra props for the delicious artwork, once seen this album simply had to be heard.
(7/10 Pete Woods)
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