You all know I love Death Metal, but do I ever get bored of it? Well yes actually. When I was younger and more of an elitist I’d pick Obituary over Manowar, now it’s the reverse. Plus, the fact that if I want Death Metal now I’m more interested in Slam/ Tech or other silly genres, basically I like to have fun now. That is why I’m very thankful to be a reviewer, I get to hear all the ultra ‘trve’ releases I’d have otherwise passed by.
Taking the elite platform today are Ghastly (no not the Pokemon). This Finnish trio really are an embodiment of their country’s scene. The book Rotting Ways To Misery really opened my eyes to what Finnish Death Metal means. Generally, it means refined, high end Death Metal and certainly that is what Ghastly provide. Having formed in 2011 the band soon found fortune in 2015 through Me Saco Un Ojo Records (great label) with their debut Carrion Of Time, only to follow this up in 2018 with a signing to the awesome 20 Buck Spin for their second release Death Velour. Now in 2021 its third album time with Mercurial Passages.
Ouroborus kicks things off which huge Prog Death flare. The guitars are ominous, drums Doom laden and vocals old school, this is modern Death Metal with a twist of ‘trve’. The less guttural vocals have a certain Blackened almost Watain edge to them that I can really get behind. Out Of The Psychic Blue picks up the pace a bit, brings in more melody and generally provides some striking hooks in the guitars with mild flourishes of Tech here and there. By the time we reach Perdition the formula of dissonance, Tech, Prog and Death becomes clear, I wouldn’t say it’s in the least bit boring it just becomes a little atonal.
Parasites doesn’t inspire much more and it’s sad to say that the album slowly begins to drift off into mediocrity. By no means is this badly written, in fact it’s quite brilliant, however the lack of variation is quite apparent which unfortunately makes the album less enjoyable. This is pretty much a classic example of OSDM worship with modern/ Prog/ Tech Death twists. I’ve heard it many times before, it seems wrong to say but Tech nowadays has levelled up, what was once impressive is now merely well written. Dawnless Dreams is a pretty interesting song, I prefer the longer tracks for certain and rounding off the album with this and Mirror Horizon is a nice touch.
On reflection I think this album is mostly just confused. It kind of wants to be OSDM, but also Death Doom, Tech (a little) and Prog (a little). It’s pretty much a perfect fit for 20 Buck Spin in terms of sound and I can really see why the label picked them up. It’s strong and something I would recommend, particularly to those of a ‘trve’ persuasion. For me though I’m a bit of a falser nowadays and it just doesn’t appeal to me in the same way as a lot of other more over the top and outlandish bands of a similar ilk.
(8/10 George Caley)
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