When you put together a group that includes the former vocalist/guitarist of VoidCeremony and the current drummer of VoidCeremony, you can expect some music that sounds like VoidCeremony: aggressive, technical, and slightly unorthodox death metal. And yet, if you thought VoidCeremony's latest album was intense, prepare to tighten that seat belt of yours even further!
Ascended Dead deliver with Evenfall Of The Apocalypse a true assault on the ears. The oppressive, buzzing guitar-work creates a suffocating atmosphere, as if trapping the listener in a stifling cavern or a swamp of tar. Propelled by rapid drumming, the music chugs along with no sign of ever slowing down. The interspersion of wild lead guitar solos offer the only relief (relatively speaking) from the crushing slog of thick, rhythm guitar. The vocalist's performance, full of unhinged growls, resembles that displayed by bands like Cryptopsy and Asphyx. Most of the vocals are these same sickened yelps and groans, yet there are some surprises strewn in. For instance, on "Visceral Strike", there are two impressive, high-pitched screams: one around the 50-second-mark and a second one in the same pitch as the lead guitar at the 2-minute-mark.
Overall, the instrumentation feels heavily inspired by the controlled mayhem featured on albums like Cryptopsy's None So Vile or Incantation's Onward to Golgotha. In fact, the indiscernible cover artwork is a fitting visual portrayal of the pure chaos that awaits the unsuspecting listener. At any given moment, it sounds like the music is going to fall apart. There is so much happening simultaneously that it wouldn't be surprising if some listeners are entirely put off by the wall of noise. Yet, death metal veterans should be happy to find perhaps the most fiery and tempestuous music of the year on this album.
The only moment of melody amidst this maelstrom of furious death metal appears on "Passage to Eternity", which is a purely instrumental track that features an eerie ambience of acoustic guitar-playing and the sombre wailing of an electric guitar. While I personally would've appreciated more calmer moments like this spread out across the tracklist, the incessantly rampaging riffs and mad solos whirling within Ascended Dead's musical blizzard are sure to keep the death metal storm chasers satisfied.
