Information is rather scant on this relatively new French death metal act, except that from the very brief promo text this could be a sci-fi concept led album based around the loss of humanity which is nothing new of course in any genre of metal. Added to that the three band members are involved in Can Of Worms and one resides in Red Dead. The album artwork really struck me with this debut release, its conceptualised vision for the album gives you another viewpoint when listening to the tracks, with any abyssal portal pointing towards what looks like a fracture in space as the vivid colouring portrays that sense of sci-fi as various eyes gaze down.

Based on that description you’d assert that this album was going to be a clinical bombardment with a production to match but you would be wholly wrong as the band has adopted a much more rudimentary like sound that hurtles you back decades to a time when productions were based on how much cash a band had at the time. That is not to say that ‘Altered Dimension’ lacks impact, far from it, the way the sound has that piercing edge enables all the tunes to have a penetrating fury. The slightly weird intro piece ‘Orbital Transmission’ ploughs a dissonant channel where semi narrated vocals sit alongside the high-toned hook before ‘Power Of Demons’ smashes in with scraping savagery. My initial thoughts centred around first album Sinister, as whilst the inherent speed matches anything you’ll hear within death metal, it does take a while to acclimatise to the sound, which is tonally high, lacking bass emphasis and the drums have been mixed lower that one would expect in the genre, which isn’t to say you can’t hear the devastation they wreak throughout this release. There is a hefty focus on the guitar work here, with subtle hooks and lead breaks imbibing technicality but retaining the aggressive tempos.

‘Omega Destroyer’ continues the album with a snare roll introduction that I liked a lot as fans of old deathrash will enjoy this one. Its incessant speed is matched to the vicious vocals that vary in tone, though the throat shredding snarls really make this album more vitriolic, but I wasn’t sure the cleaner shouts worked that well, but that’s a personal choice. Thrash adorns ‘Demonic Portal’ as the song has a fine build up sequence leading into a cool riff break that produces some Krisiun like obliterating speed. Embedded into the tune is a weird bass riff break too, that caught me unawares, but it works tremendously in breathing a new sense of horror into the already terrorising assault the track has.

Frenzied and maniacal in nature the title track unveils a quirky riff as again the band links in a variety of hooks and riffs to keep everything fresh as ‘Vile Precursors’ had me scribbling down early era Deicide once the track was underway. If you remember that colossal debut by Deicide then you know it was teeming with thrash riffs just played at insane speeds as this tune harks back to that era as the blast beat shows little sign of waning. You will definitely think Deicide when you hear the background rhythm riff as the album concludes with the two best tracks in my opinion.

‘Desperate Escape’ is the first of the doublet that closes the release and like the previous songs it is a ferocious homicidal affront even though initially the pace is restrained. As the guitar work focuses your attention you can feel it building to the blasted section which arrives as predicted with the double kick work blurring the song into oblivion, before finishing with the equally excellent, and slightly longer, ‘Pure Extermination’. The bass rumble intro phase has an ominous tone, especially with the light cymbal taps. The guitar riff that breaks through is excellent, building up the tune with layers of escalating tension. The drum work adds its own level of tension too, with double bass rolls before a fine foreboding riff overshadows everything. With a dread filled aura the tune crashes into an awesome snare led break I particularly enjoyed as it allows the song to switch gears slightly. There is a touch of atmospheric drama here too captured by the sinister aura the tune has through its riffs and tempo variations making this tune and the album overall a fine listen indeed.

(8/10 Martin Harris)

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https://deathfromabovedeathmetal.bandcamp.com/album/altered-dimension