Another day, another death metal band to review on the site. And what better place to look for it than the UK. Out of the bowels of Britain came some of my personal fave acts from core-influenced slam outfit Ingested to oldschoolers Bolt Thrower. But today's five-piece represents a slightly more brutal aspect of the playing field, with the distinct grind undertones and technical guitar elements to boot. From out of the London area comes Unfathomable Ruination: a misanthropic and destructive Willowtip Records signed artist that's got some tricks up its sleeve. The latest effort (and topic of the day) being their third full-length album titled Enraged and Unbound, I'm really curious as to what these lads have to offer in this 43 minute culmination of brutality. So let's unbound and dive right into it!
Fun Fact: In 2014, the band performed on the sidewalk of downtown London while locked in a air-tight box as a part of an art exhibit called "Sculpture in the City". The goal of the stunt was to have the band play and then released as their air supply ran low. (MusicFeeds.com.au, 2014)^1
There's nine songs total on here, with no time to waste it gets right into it. Unlike a ton of other bands of this calibre, it's a smooth shot to the finish with none of those bs filler or intermission tracks to waste our time. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy those some of the time like in the prog world, but I appreciate consistency. The intro track takes us into a low pitched growling, snarly and shredding verse of techy riffage. This opening is a crazy quick one and the low-fi kinda snare sound became my type of jam after the first couple tracks. About halfway in there's a bit of breakdowns that lead into a bridge consisting of short guitar fills as well as some high shrieks akin to low end black metal, which I also dig. It's a very strong intro and a great first impression, making this opening song among my faves off of the release. The next self-titled track is more of what you heard on the first song though it mixes things up with a guitar solo along with some grind aspects, too.
Songs like 'Codebreaker' and 'Defy The Architect' are where the album really shines through with the flow, groovy structure and continuation of the tech death brutality as opposed to the slightly more pretentious blackened or prog stuff. I appreciate simplicity some of the time and, though the riffs and drum patterns on here are techy as all hell, I sometimes felt as though the artists were trying to do a bit too much at once, such as in tracks like 'A Prophetic Compulsion', which has some interesting tempo shifts and melodic sections, but doesn't hold a candle to other stuff that's more Dying Fetus like with how the previously mentioned tracks as well as some of the lategame songs like 'Protoplasmic Imprisonment' (the outro track that has arguably the best vocal variety and my fave guitar solo on the album). In all, the instrumentals a incredibly solid from start to finish on every front, but I felt like the vocals were slightly inconsistent at times. Overall, though, this is one I can surely vouch for.
So, in the end, Unfathomable Ruination's latest album is exactly what the title of it all lives up to. Enraged and aggressive on a vocal level from start to finish and packed with enough technical elements to serenade even the more nuanced death metalhead guitar tech-virtuoso, it's fairly easy to see why this brutal UK outfit has joined the almighty Willowtip Records family roster. Easily recommendable to anybody into the Defeated Sanity/Origin side of the brutal death genre who is into having their fill.
Fave Tracks: 'An Obsidian Perception', 'Codebreaker', 'Protoplasmic Imprisonment'
For Fans Of: Inherit Disease, Origin, Wormed
**This release is available now on multiple formats here!**
Footnote:
1. Baroni, N. (2014). Death Metal Band To Play In Sealed, Soundproof Box Until Oxygen Runs Out. MusicFeeds. Retrieved from https://musicfeeds.com.au/news/death-metal-band-to-play-in-sealed-soundproof-box-until-oxygen-runs-out/
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-Review by: Dave Raffy
Musician, reviewer, fan & promoter
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