Band:	Vastum
Album:	Inward To Gethsemane
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	November 10, 2023
A review by:	AndyMetalFreak

01. In Bed With Death
02. Priapic Chasms
03. Stillborn Eternity
04. Judas
05. Indwelling Archon
06. Vomitous
07. Corpus Fractum


Gethsemane is the place where Jesus Christ underwent agony, treachery, and despair at the arrest that ultimately lead to his crucifixion. I'm sure we've all heard the story, and Vastum aren't far off portraying what the holy lord's agonizing and brutal demise must have felt like with this latest release.

Vastum are a US death metal band that formed back in 2009, who currently feature a line-up of Daniel Butler (vocals), Leila Abdul-Rauf (guitars/vocals), Shelby Lermo (guitars), Chad Gailey (drums), and Colin Tarvin (bass). Vastum are a classic OSDM-style act with a filthy and brutal reputation, but not an especially large reputation in the grand scale of things. This may come as no real surprise; considering how swamped the OSDM scene has become, you have to fall quite lucky to stand any chance of becoming known within this oversized crowd of brutal madness. However, having been around for fourteen years, the group have had time to build some kind of reputation and following, having released what is now five albums in the process.

The fifth of these, Inward To Gethsemane, starts off with opening song "In Bed With Death". This track begins by introducing a creepy synth passage that slowly builds up, to the point of then unleashing pure devastation on the poor listener's eardrums. Musically, there's nothing particularly new on display here, as the track features the classic old-school buzzsaw ripping guitar sound, which is highly effective and adds real value to this OSDM approach. Along with this guitar tone, you have the usual menacing death growls, which are performed to a high standard, as well as agonizing tortuous shouts, somewhat similar to how Jeff Walker of Carcass performs his vocals. The riffs on this opening track are also nothing out of the ordinary; they're a combination of doomy mid-tempo riff patterns, that suddenly erupt in a more frenzied manner from time to time, driven by rolling thunderous drumming and heavy powerful bass.

The following track "Priapic Chasms" begins with a furious Obituary-style wailing solo led by a rapid rhythm section, before once again slowing to a mid-to-slow-tempo doomy slog, driven by the powerful bass and heavy tone, in a way that I can best describe as a combination of early Autopsy and Obituary. What's probably most striking is the production, which is far from clean and modernized, and is instead dirty and authentic. This is clearly intended to draw the listener into an uncomfortable state of mind, by which you'll feel as if your head is going to split in two before you reach the end of the album.

There are several moments that stand out for fans that want a touch of the old nostalgic OSDM magic, such as the Autopsy-style groovy bass lines and riffs of "Vomitous", and the sinisterly chilling atmospheric female chants on "Stillborn Eternity", but other than the typical mid-tempo doomy slogging, groovy riff melodies, and occasional shredding leads, all of which I've already pointed out on the opening two tracks, there's nothing that I find that out of the ordinary on Inward To Gethsemane. That is, at least, until the final track "Corpus Fractum". Now, this is one sinister closer; the creepy female chants in the background have a major part to play in that, and so do the demonically evil death growls and tortured yells, but the entire tone that this track is built up on is perfectly fitting. If your mind is morbid enough, you could imagine this being the perfect soundtrack to a horde of zombies tearing some poor wretched soul apart limb by limb: it's nasty, vile stuff indeed.

Inward To Gethsemane is purposely made for an uncomfortable listen; it's not meant to lift one's spirits, and it's definitely not going to win you over on originality, but if you just want a simple Floridian-style OSDM record with a slightly atmospheric sinister edge to it, then Vastum could provide what you're looking for.