It’s Monday and Mondays suck, so let’s grind it out with Angelic Desolation’s Quorum of Unspeakable Curses.
When this posts it will officially be the last day of summer and any weather above 75 degrees will hopefully be illegal. And as we smash through another season and into the brief stint that is autumn, we have one more grinder here as a send-off. Enter Denver, CO’s Angelic Desolation.
Those that listen to a lot of grindcore might be familiar with the term “razorgrind.” Coined originally by Leng Tch’e (and the title of their last record), it is a style that blends grind, death metal, stoner rock, and metalcore. Though the parts that comes through most aggressively are the grind and death elements. It is something that sounds like it is often verging on deathgrind. And Angelic Desolation fit into the genre well.
Angelic Desolation’s latest EP Quorum of Unspeakable Curses continues the rampage that Rumpus Time Is Over left us with in 2018 with three more tracks of razorgrind, one of which is a Decapitated cover. The opener “Cyborg Vampire” comes in like it is running at the listener and gets straight to the grind. The track sounds like it is trying to evoke a tech-death vibe without going tech. Like something one might hear on a Wormed or Archspire album. And the track does dabble in a little tech. The guitar, bass and drum work is extremely tight and sounds very deathgrind-y.
The second track “Necropotamus” follows in the vein of the first. It is dripping in death and grind. Starting out it almost sounds like a straight death metal song and then settles back a little bit into an almost stoner vibe before building itself up and starting to take off. It is a track that keeps building on itself throughout. It speeds up, it slows down, but it is always boosting in intensity.
The final track is a cover of Decapitated’s “Names.” It fits perfectly with the other two offerings and Angelic Desolation does it justice. The track is tight and brutal, as one would expect with a Decapitated track. And while plenty technical, it remains the most straight forward death metal track on the EP, which is good, because it’s like a final kick to the teeth.
A quote from the band:
"With Quorum Of Unspeakable Curses we made it a point to step up our game. Everything from production to songwriting is tighter and more fleshed out when compared to our last release. We hope everyone likes what we've done this time around and that these tracks keep our fans satiated while we work on even newer material. QUOC releases on Friday Sept. 25th so head on over to our bandcamp page to look at the pre-order bundles we have available!"
Those that are more privy to tech death, death metal, or deathgrind are going to eat this up. Same if you are already a razorgrind fan. Fans of Leng Tch’e, Nasum, Aborted, or Cephalic Carnage will probably love this the most. It is brutal, grinding and a helluva send-off for the season. Get grinding on this!
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