Embrace Of Thorns - Praying For Absolution

There is death metal that is brutal, death metal that has rawness to it.. and then there is death metal that sounds like that if hell existed, that it came right from the depths of it. It makes brutality and extreme seem tame. Embrace Of Thorn's latest offering 'Praying For Absolution' (PFA) has been unearthed.. and it is one dark, punishing and evil beast.

If every holy place was to suddenly crumble to a million pieces tomorrow, it is because the riffs on this beast has rumbled the structure from the bottom to the top. The riffs are so deep, so dark, so evil sounding, and when the occasional trailblazing tremolo riff takes command, it will strip the structure brick by brick. Their is a hint of smoke in the air as these pitch black riffs crush along.

The drumming is intense. It quickly crushes the crumbled bricks to dust. Sometimes it will lift and triumphantly march away like in the songs 'The Origin Of Scourge' and 'Debris Crowns His Earthly Worms', but the quick shades of destruction returns through out in a whirlwind of chaos. 

The vocals cross between a deep bellow and harsh blackened style. Almost like the commander of the deep dark depths is working in union with demons. The vocals are not on fire but they soon could be as you can sense the burning in Archfiend DevilPig's throat. It's like at the beginning, you can hear him yelling under the ground and then when he rises up, he is a raging beast.

Normally an album like this may get boring and come across as one dimensional. Not PFA. This has plenty of varying tempos. At times you get blistering speed. Slower moments that feel like the haze from the crumbling debris has begun to raise up to the black sky (eg: 'A Mass Of Fiends Forlorn'). And then at times it will just make you nod along, only you're not taking control of your nod, the demons are holding your head and swinging it back and forth trying to snap it off ('Ruins Of Man Scattered Like Ash').

This was quite unexpected. I wasn't expecting something as crushing and destructive as this. Except the dark and evil feel add to the enjoyment. Now, stand in a room that is pitch black and don't be surprised if the walls you can't see standing over you suddenly collapse and crush you.

Ikil