In the years that followed the release of Incantation’s ‘Primordial Domination’ there was an explosion of bands trying to replicate that murky, cavernous strain of death metal. Of the small cluster that popped up, only three surged in popularity and have continued to release music; Dead Congregation, Cruciamentum and Grave Miasma. While the former two have left fans with an excruciatingly long wait for new music (their last albums were 2014 and 2015 respectively), Grave Miasma have been a little more forthcoming with new material, having released an EP in 2016 and demo material last year. Despite existing as a band for almost two decades, ‘Abyss of Wrathful Deities’ is only their second album.

Immediately noticeable on this opus is that compared with debut ‘Odori Sepulcrorum’ it doesn’t sound like it’s been recorded in a vat of porridge – this is thanks in part to the wizardry of Jaime ‘Gomez’ Arellano of Orgone Studios. That’s not to say it’s overly clean sounding or that the music has lost any of its sinister atmosphere, it’s just a pleasant change to be able to hear discernible riffs. There are moments on this album that feel far heavier than anything previously heard by Grave Miasma, with aggressive twists of frenzied guitars on songs such as ‘Exhumation Rites’.

Long-time fans of drawing out their aural assault, they pull back the tempo a fair bit too; Demons of the Sand slows things right down, without sacrificing any ferocity, with vast expanses of notes that hang thick in the air amidst backdrop of cloying density. The excitement for “caverncore” may have dissipated, but Grave Miasma’s passion and talent for crafting suffocating slabs of gnarly death metal certainly hasn’t. If we’re lucky we may even get a third album by 2030!

(8/10 Angela Davey)

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https://gravemiasma.bandcamp.com/album/abyss-of-wrathful-deities