I must confess I have never heard an Orchestra sound quite like this one, but given that this is a metallic quintet from France and not an orchestra at all, perhaps that isn’t surprising. Formed in 2011 in Grenoble, France, a year later they released their debut EP ‘Oppressive Procession’, and performed nearly thirty shows throughout France alongside the likes of Betraying The Martyrs, UltraVomit, Death Mentality, Agnostic Front, Promethee, and many others. That Summer, the band secured a three-week tour of Latin American with Descomunal which included a performance at Ecuador’s QuitoFest. 2013 saw the release of their Klonosphere-issued ‘Architects Of Destruction debut’, and they are now back with their second full length album. When a band states that their influences are Origin, Abominable Putridity, Pathology, Aborted, Carnifex, Job for a Cowboy, Rings of Saturn, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Behemoth, Decapitated, Hour of Penance, Dyscarnate, Dying Fetus, Misery Index, Benighted, Kronos and Rise Of Doom then one knows what to expect even before the first death metal notes make it out of the speakers.
I was a little surprised not to see Cannibal Corpse and Testament in the list, as these guys have obviously been paying close attention to these guys, and not so much of the bombast of the likes of Fleshgod Apocalypse. The vocals are coarse, the drums simply brutal with great blast beats, while the guitars and bass all sing as one. There is a great deal of complexity in this music, with layered arrangements that show how much these guys have played together as they never skip a beat or miss a note. Death metal in its truest form rarely gets much better than this, and the production allows it all to shine as the only thing to do is to keep turning it up louder and louder. Brutal, massively over the top, this is sweat-drenched metal that is essential for any fans of the genre.
