Surprisingly this Portuguese band has been around for over a decade but during that time have only released a couple of EPs in 2012 and 2014 before a lengthy spell of inactivity, only to resurface with this latest effort designated a full length but is actually shorter than the band’s last EP ‘Ataxia’ by a couple of minutes or so. However, the release has been assigned as a full length so I’ll treat it as such as clearly Elitium have centralised their death metal thuggery around an old school ethos that kicks off with the tasty ‘Humus’. There is a demolition like ethos to the songs fashioned via the guitar work but also the formidable drum work that sees the opener possess a Deicide like styling. Added to that you get the occasional blackened feathering on the fringes of the tunes, more akin to how the riff sounds rather than a purer blackened death approach as follower ‘Tasteless’ shows. This is immensely heavy and dense material punctuated by abrasive riffing and copious deluges in speed that I liked instead of an outright obliterating assault.
‘Putative Insurgency’ has an eerie fade-in melody before the riff changes slightly allowing the vocals to adopt a deathcore like bark that is very effective before the blast onslaught. The band straddles the death metal and deathcore genres marginally primarily down to the vocals but also how the songs have that bludgeoning riffing style similar to compatriots Analepsy to some degree. The drum start to ‘Lysis’ has a snare tap opening that acts as the trigger for the songs explosive incursion via the brutally heavy riffs but also the sporadic blast beats.
Everything flows well from track to track and within as ‘Orderly Hunting’ is bolstered by those deathcore vocal barks on its opening before the drums and riffs slam into you, as once again it is brutally dense and packs an absolute wallop. ‘Social Architecture’ is slightly different with a creepier approach and a much slower pacing. It is still monstrously hefty though as the twinning of the riff and vocals act like a double stab working together to produce maximum damage. I especially enjoyed the screaming guitar work half way in that leads the track into an awesome riff break that has a groove metal like elements.
Closing the release is ‘Prevised Eviternity’ which has an isolated guitar melody drifting around before the chug riff juts in with those very cool vocals barked at you like constant orders. The riff change is excellent too and signals the increase in speed as the double kick cascade that follows is hugely cavernous. The way the band balances the fluid tempo dynamics is first-rate ensuring all the songs have tons of momentum as I hope the band doesn’t wait another nine years before releasing their next album.
(8/10 Martin Harris)
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