The prolific Transcending Obscurity label is a byword for death metal productions, and here’s another one, this time by Saevus Finis from Portugal. The points of reference for this “chest-bursting heaviness” and “dark, hypnotic and suffocating death metal’ are bands like Immolation, Incantation, Morbid Angel and Viande.

A dark storm is in the air. “Scourge of Humanity” starts apocalyptically and goes downhill from there, taking us loudly and atmospherically to some dark chasm. Listening to “Aeons of Spiritual Starvation” I reflected that if we’re concerned about style, this is industrialised black metal along the lines of Zyklon and Aborym. I’d suggest at this point that our imminent death will be of the mechanised variety. “Thu Hast Destroyed Thyself” continues unsurprisingly in the same vein. It’s extreme, violently, nasty and filthily foggy and dark. The drums pierce our ear eardrums as do the shattering vocals. The guitar work has only one aim: destruction. We as listeners are on the receiving end of this orchestrated assault. Lower end chords stretch out in front of us as “Unfulfillment” represents a pounding slab of mortality before bursting into explosive chaos and the customary destruction. Doomily it develops, switching again into high-energy assault but never letting us from its grasp. Now the band calls upon its death metal credentials, drawing out the agony on “Overrun by Pests” and pounding us into submission, raising the tempo here and there but maintaining the images of the extreme and dangerous world that this album represents.

“Corporeal Malfeasant” drags us through the mud, the echoing sound enhancing the mood of fear, before “Those Who Aid and Abet” takes us on another smoky but rather aimless journey. I think we’ve got the point by now. “Corpse of Hope” brings us what was needed: a more up-tempo attack-from-the-front style. Off we meander into obscure and dangerous avenues but the intensity and ferocity remain. Saevus Finis also introduce an interesting element of distortion but above all “Corpse of Hope” is noteworthy for its belligerence. Curiously there is a growled interlude before the title song, which is the final piece. It starts with a darker intent than its predecessors, which is quite an achievement. The storm whips up and death hangs over us, with the music as ever representing extreme consequences and reminding us of them to the end.

I found myself flagging a little during the second half of this album but I give credit to Saevus Finis for maintaining a continued world of darkness and destruction. The highlight of “Facilis Decensus Averno” is its charged and malevolent atmosphere. With changes of tempo, distortion and interweaving structures, this album is well constructed and more subtle than it may first appear.

(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)

https://www.facebook.com/realsaevusfinis

https://saevusfinis.bandcamp.com/album/facilis-descensus-averno