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'Immemorial Curse'

(Satanath recs/Sevared recs/Wings of Destruction recs - 2017)










MARK: 83/100




 
  Named after the prolific fantasy writer of the 1930s, the Russian band from northern Russia can now be considered as a veteran one, being active since 2010.
This digipack CD, released as a co-production between Satanath, Sevared and Wings of Destruction records; it contains 10 tracks and features Lovecraftian artwork and lyrics, dealing with the following topics:

-a carnage rite of noble prisoners during a war
-an initiation ritual made to satisfy demons from the underworld gone wrong as the front cover depicts, where a hooded guy is surrounded by dead kings resurrecting during the summoning
-Acheron rising from its grave
-a dead mystic man who sold his soul to the devil
- a witch conjuring ghouls
-ancient wormed-aliens returned to dominate humans
- a bloody pagan cult replaced by Christianity
-hidden invaders seen by special goggles failing to win the earth over
-a cosmic race to reach the universe's edge to be finally free

There are not many products today so loyal to Old School Death Metal in terms of sounds and songwriting, but this second album from Dig Me No Grave is one of those few and the masterpiece created to be the five piece's logo just makes us drool even more waiting for the CD player to start.
After "(The Curse)", an intro of diabolical evocation, the good production which sounds very live, underproduced and clean, immediately stresses out the vintage form of Death Metal contained in "Ritual Slaughter"; the song is based upon mid-tempo groovy parts and a blastbeat accompanying the axe solo.
The marvellously-titled "Initiation To Afterlife Disciplines" cleverly mixes Autopsy and, in a minor fraction, 1989-Death, the former in the slow parts, while the latter in the more open riffs. It is once again a simple manner of architecturing a composition, yet always effective.
A pachydermical riff in tune with reeking growling opens "Cursed Acheron", another offering of classic Death Metal conquering the listener's favours from the first instants. The James Murphy-inspired solo represents the icy on the cake of this highlight.
A bit closer to Six Feet Under and Unleashed at the same time, "Dig Me No Grave" includes further groovy riffing and another guitar solo which belongs to the unrepeatable decade of the past century.




 




 


"The Call of the Witch" turns out to be a short chip of wicked Chris Barnes-like growly vocals reinforced by whispering or ultra-rotten backup vocals.
The bass leads and rules the dynamic "Ancient Aliens", a track which distinguishes itself thanks to riffs and licks more elaborate than the average of the record, though there is room for traditional blastbeats as well.
Even more intricate and bordering Thrash Metal is "Monument to Violence", halfway between Mortification and Tyrant Sin; its strength also lies in the several breakdown riffs and in a long 6-string solo making it instrumental for the most part.
Surprisingly, "I See Them" veers towards the early Napalm Death depurated from Grindcore, and prosecutes with the usual recipe other than a few Jungle Rot-reminiscent structures.
Different to the previous songs, "Edge of Eternity" incorporates a scourging mid-paced riff which is followed by mashing riffs which only Konkhra might be able to match, even if here the putrid growls are constantly far more old school Death Metal than the Danes' ones. A break on the trails of Immolation placed with the aim of increasing tension ensued by another breakdown in the vein of Internal Bleeding are all that the composition offers before going back to the initial pattern. Absolutely delightful are the double vocals (growly and demonic) reinforcing the faded finalè.

Also thanks to raw, ultracompressed and non-modern production, listening to "Immemorial Curse" is similar to making a journey with a time machine to an epoch of demotapes, paper xeroxed zines, and the late 80s/early 90s Death Metal albums. Back then, Death Metal was meant to be a scary way to translate our fears into music, and Dig Me No Grave have succeded in making this jump into the past a pleasant but not nostalgic experience.

 


  MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - 30 Jan, 2020
 
























Tracklist:

1. The Curse (Intro)
2. Ritual Slaughter
3. Initiation To Afterlife Disciplines
4. Cursed Acheron
5. Dig Me No Grave
6. The Call Of the Witch
7. Ancient Aliens
8. Monument To Violence
9. I See Them!
10. Edge Of Eternity






Discography:
-Shrine of Blasphemy (single - 2010)
-From Past Aeons (demo - 2011)
-Live Split (split - 2013)
-Cosmic Cult (CD - 2014)
-Святилище (single - 2014)
-Unholy Worship (single - 2015)
-Immemorial Curse (CD - 2017)
-The Valley of Serpents (EP - 2018)




Line-up on this record:
Anatoly Schenikov - drums (ex-Аделаида(live))
Anton Pyatakov - guitars
Nikita Smirnov – guitars
Ivan Mishin – bass
Aleksey Rumyantsev – vocals


Contacts:
Vologda Oblast - Russia
E-mail:




Official site:
https://www.facebook.com/digmenograveband