Two years since releasing their debut, the Australian quintet Depravity are back with ‘Grand Malevolence’. and in those two years, they have been honing their craft. The riffs appear tighter and that much faster, with no beats missed during the manic fury that is lashed on the drums, while the vocals sound even angrier with roars having added depth and lasting longer.
The opener “Indulging Psychotic Thoughts” takes no time to get up to speed and has Louis Rando blasting away almost immediately while Jamie Kay spews forth his venomous vocals as Lynton Cessford and Jarrod Curly shred through some immense riffs which Ainsley Watkins fills out on his bass.
The title track “Grand Malevolence” is a little bit slower, but not by much and it contains some interesting lead tangents that the guitars go off on during the verses before returning to the riff they were on before.
I’m trying to decide on the pronunciation of the first word in “Invalid Majesty”, as both are valid and make sense, but change the meaning of the title completely, however there’s nothing to guess at for “Cantankerous Butcher” where the mellower chorus riffs lend themselves to the leads that follow and let the tempo of the drums relent for a few moments before blasting back to full intensity.
Maintaining the slightly slower pace but filling it with intricate drum rolls and more varied riffs is “Trophies of Inhumanity” before “Castrate the Perpetrators” takes on a journey of majestic footwork whether the tempo at the time is blistering or subdued.
The pace picks up to unrelenting for “The Coming of the Hammering”, which happens to be aptly title for the snare drum, while the vocals have an added rasp to go with the guttural roars on the occasion.
And there’s nothing subtle about “Barbaric Eternity” as it races along into “Hallucination Aflame” which is just as intense and brutal in its delivery of aggression.
Don’t let the slow build up fool you into thinking “Epitome of Extinction” is going to be anything but a wild ride, where the leads are actually worthwhile paying attention to, especially the bass one.
They end the album with “Ghosts in the Void”, which swings from blasting grind to almost doomy, with neither seeming out of place at all, but perfectly balanced and a rather fitting way to wrap up.
A rather enjoyable album, which is full of interesting twists and turns for all its intensity and isn’t afraid to tone things down when doing so actually adds to the depth and heaviness of a song.
(7/10 Marco Gaminara)
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