So, a few things made me want to review this album. The first was that the band were described as “proto-death metal”. Now me, I’m a sucker for primitive aggression, so that was enticing. The second thing was that Doldrey are from Singapore – I’ve yet to hear an extreme metal band from Singapore that isn’t absolutely mental. The third? Well, the third is that it’s on Pulverised, who as regular readers don’t know, do not mess about when it comes to signing heavy bands. A lot to live up to then…

After the noise introduction of “Lentum Mortiis”, it’s straight into the driving fury of “Blood of the Serpent”…and holy hell, this is one hell of an opening track. Right off the bat, you’ve got some insane mixture of Hellhammer and Dishcarge, with a proper proto-death metal attack. The riffs are simple, but the guitar tone is 100% aggression, and while there are no fancy frills to be found here, this is a track that’s designed to get your blood pumping. “Endless Torment” does in fact end, but again it has that early British crust-punk sentiment, but filtered through the early days of death metal and grindcore to produce a brew of heady and heavy tastes. The vocalist sounds like he’s shouting his disdain from an apartment next door for sure, but somehow the cavernous bellowing works against the grimy fuzzed out bass and pissed-on-cheap-cider riffage.

“Seed of Desire” is the sound of a mid-90s thrash band who’ve been mugged by a load of squatters, complete with Exploited drumming. The title track is perhaps the most sophisticated of the songs available here (albeit that is not a high bar to vault over), with a Celtic Frost-ian sliding, lurching main riff being played at a relatively sane pace, before the chorus pitches in like a violent shoplifter kicking off in Primark. “Age of Extinction” is the Discharge cover that never was, while “War”, despite being the 972nd song I’ve heard with the same name, is to be fair not reminiscent of early Bolt Thrower with the splicing of death metal attitude and punk sensibilities. “Harmonic Divergence” definitely does diverge from harmony, and “Marked for Death” might be the best primitive extreme metal song to ever be about a relatively good early Steven Seagal film*. “Destructive Security Command” has the same amount of urgency and aggression as the early German thrashers who might also have had a song with similar name, while closer “Fall of Doldrey” has a very infectious thrash based rumble to it, filling out the run time in fine fashion.

IN fact, I’ve listened to this album twice a day since I got it. It’s infectious, it’s enjoyable, and it’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face. It’s the soundtrack to the rest of my summer.

* I doubt very much that the song is about this oft overlooked film about an ex-CIA agent pitched against twin Jamaican crimelords.

(9/10 Chris Davison)

https://pulverised.bandcamp.com/album/celestial-deconstruction