Description

Black vinyl with lyric insert

One of the highlights on the debut EP from Belarus Doomslaughter has to be the vocals. They consist mostly of growls, fitting to the accompanying music perfectly, without falling into the trap of being too guttural or sounding too canine-like and are fortified further by an appealing reverberation. They convey an acrimonious truthfulness; no ridiculous pig squeals or other gimmicky bullshit of a similar nature. With intermittent bursts of almost Black Metal-like screams, this is a frenetic human being, slowly decaying internally; a mutilated soul, howling in Purgatory. Musically speaking, Doomslaughter have produced an intricate, chaotic web of infernality, with complex, labyrinthine riffing that is plenteous with lugubrious, deep off-notes. The first few moments of listening strongly remind me of the work of Kaamos and assemble forth as a fist of pandemonium. There are some irrefutable elements of old-school Death Metal interwoven throughout – one structural example being the deep-noted, quick-discharged riffs, with slow, repetitive breakdowns slotted in between. Another example of old-school elements are the occasional guitar solos of the EP, which, being true to tradition, somewhat resemble the havoc of those played by Trey Azagthoth – particularly the manifestation towards the end of the second chapter, ‘Morbid Carnage’. The usual suspects of web-sources have labelled Doomslaughter as a Black/Death Metal band – a rather elusive definition at the best of times – however, this music is pure, ancient, rotten Death, with barely a very few sprinkles of Black Metal stirred in. No trends, no triggers, no down-pitched bollocks, no pseudo-occult stuff; just putrid, fast Death to the bone. At a stretch, there are even maybe some slight hints of Thrash factors but none that are very noticeable. The band’s sound is unique; no certain comparisons can truly be made. There are some very small similarities to Obeisance, Drowned, Beyond and perhaps Morbosidad, but these are such microscopic likenesses, that they are barely worth mentioning. The bass tracks of both bass guitar and drums are slightly lacking at most times and certainly need to be considerably louder; their lack of volume regrettably has a tendency to flatten and muffle any further depth that they could potentially bring to the music. Also, I do personally feel that ‘Followers Of The Unholy Cult’ is moderately too underproduced and calls for a cleaner-cut presentation – mainly so that all layers and facets of the music can be heard. This is already a fantastic EP, yet I cannot help but wonder how much more power and energy could potentially be exposed through a better production. However, without dwelling upon this, the release is fast and furious and generates superb juxtaposition, thanks to creeping, semi-melodic, unhurried breakdowns set amongst the speed and ferocity; this structuring is a fine asset of the EP.

Track list:
1. Sepulchral Penance
2. Morbid Carnage
3. Storm Of Destruction
4. Onwards To The Holocaust
5. Encrowned By Flesh And Bone
6. Temple Of Blazing Torment
7. Troops Of Doom-Sepultura cover