Although this is the debut full-length album from Finnish act Retorgression, they had already produced various demos over the years, and in fact it took from the release of the first of these in 2004 until 2012 for the debut to reach the light of day. But, it certainly doesn’t sound like a debut album and that is undoubtedly down to the band having played as a unit for so long. The label describes it as bringing together the finest elements of melodic, melancholic and progressive metal and combining that with pure aggression. While that is probably true on many levels, what makes this band stand out is the melody behind their metal. True, this is brutal with totally uncompromising vocals, but while extremely heavy there is a lot of well crcafted tunes going on here. I have seen them being likened to early mastodon, and that also rings true for me, although it is combined with well crafted traditional Scandanvian Black Metal with loads of atmosphere.
There is a real honest feel to this music, and when they do slow it right down as on “Blossoms of Society” it really works as it allows them to concentrate on feel and depth. There is a warmth and solidity to the music that is often belied by the bleakness that they also manage to bring into proceedings. While it may not be a truly indispensible recording, there is more than enough on here to warrant full investigation. I was sent this by the record label, but the band have also made the complete album available a free download on Bandcamp so what are you waiting for?
