Band:	Grave Miasma
Album:	Abyss Of Wrathful Deities
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	May 2021

01. Guardians Of Death
02. Rogyapa
03. Ancestral Waters
04. Erudite Decomposition
05. Under The Megalith
06. Demons Of The Sand
07. Interlude
08. Exhumation Rites
09. Kingdoms Beyond Kallash

Imagine the smell of the grave.

Alright, first things first. This is not Grave Miasma's second album. De jure, yes, the only other Grave Miasma's full length is 2013's Odori Sepulcrorum, but de facto, each of the three EPs they've released in their time as a band have been longer than 30 minutes. And sure, their full lengths have all been longer than their EPs, with Abyss Of Wrathful Deities being their longest one at 52 minutes of runtime. But don't go in thinking that we're finally getting a second offering. More like a fifth. Maybe even a sixth if you count all the material released as Goat Molestör. And if you count that as the precursor to Grave Miasma, the band is nearing two decades of existence. So there is a lot more behind Abyss Of Wrathful Deities than meets the eye.

I guess the importance of Grave Miasma's previous material in solidifying what became known as caverncore cannot be understated. Taking Incantation's Onward To Golgotha into the new century alongside other acts like Cruciamentum, Dead Congregation and Teitanblood. Caverncore in 2021 is no longer "hot", so to speak, but there is still something Abyss Of Wrathful Deities that feels pretty unique, in that its sense of atmosphere is muddy in a way that not a lot of bands try to emulate. Which makes sense for an album themed around death, and approaching the subject with a bit more thought and insight that usual for a death metal band. This really feels like a band that has been in the grave and has rotted. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes not, as in me appreciating its intent but doubting its effectiveness.

I'm not sure how much of it has to do with the fact that Grave Miasma is now a trio, even if ex-member R still makes a guest appearance, but Abyss Of Wrathful Deities doesn't work as well as their previous releases did. Maybe it's the prolonged runtime. Maybe it's because almost every song is a mid-tempo one (hence why the slow-tempo "Under The Megalith" immediately stands out as a highlight, and ironically it also has the best high-tempo section). Maybe because the second half if better than the first half. All of these things together make it so that each riff and each grunt just passed by me without making much of an impact. Maybe a more concise effort or a more punchy production would've made me overlook all of its other issues. It just drags. The second half proves to be a bit more engaging, but even in the latter songs for every moment that I find surprisingly good there comes another one that just loses me.

I have seen people either loving this or calling it a disappointment, so don't take my belonging in the second camp as an indication that there's no way this can be appealing, especially with its focus on atmosphere and all, and I'll admit it has its fair share of moments. I just struggled to find it constantly engaging.