Inverted Ascension – Descension 8.5/10
Hailing from the fertile grounds of Adelaide in South Australia is a four piece Inverted Ascension. Their Debut offering to the metal hordes is Descension, a reflection of turbulence, introspection and violence set to some truly modern extreme metal
Descension is a ferocious and punishing offering that is unrelenting and without mercy.’ Lord Ov The Dusk’ is a barrage to the senses that also contains a symphonic interlude that adds to the tightly controlled mayhem that lurks within. Inverted ascension can pack into five minutes what others do in whole albums.’’ Contraction’’ offers the briefest respite before it plunges into the depths of speed and frantic riffing. Their orchestration is effortless and seamless against a backdrop of extreme music that is always ferocious and unforgiving. The throat of Zeke Spawn is accusatory and unrepentant yet also intelligent.
Bookended by two masterstrokes of technical and brutal prowess ‘’ Thine Greatest Enemy Mine, with its excellent isolationist lyricism that is all too visceral and real and ‘As She Witnesses Annihilation Made Flesh’ are musical tour de forces of excellent song structure and dynamics. The pace and the intensity never lets up throughout and are true extreme metal highlights. Superbly crafted, the interplay between the symphonic, the melodic death metal and the unforgiving bleakness that is black metal is without flaw. Descension heralds a debut of extreme talent. Recommended!
Ruins of Xibalba – Nyitting 8.5/10
Ruins of Xilbaba is the creation of mastermind Oytun Bektas where each release is a different study of culture, humanity and its dreamscapes. Nyitting is an exploration of the indigenous people of Australia and its culture.
Heavily infused synth work with minimal percussion pervades Nyitting, the end result is a trance inducing state full of atmosphere and hidden electronic subtleties that build a transcendent mood that are all inclusive to the overall experience. Each album is conceptual and Nyitting is no different here each track contributing to the whole, from the introduction of ‘’ Masters of Sacred Island’’ through to the all-encompassing ‘’ The Solitary Demise’’ and the powerful ‘’ The Genesis of All Things’’ the textures are earthen and barren as per the subject matter, sparse landscapes that are rich in the details that represent a culture from its coastal shores to its distant reddened heartland. It is a dark ambient celebration of the ritual
Best enjoyed as a complete body of work it is hard to go past the subtle excellence of ’’ Eternity's Embrace’’ with its evocative darkwave tones. Using electronica to represent the dreamtime and the tales of the dawn of creation Nyitting is not merely a synth dungeon inflected release but a thoughtful enrichening experience that is all encompassing and deeply enrichening using modern instrumentation to represent the oldest living culture on earth it is a dark ambient celebration of the ritual
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