Label - Candlelight Records
Release Date - 14th July 2023
Words- Chris Fletcher
After a prolonged four-year silence, York-based trio Deitus have returned, offering up their third slab of self-styled ‘no limits black metal’. With six tracks clocking in at just under thirty-nine minutes, the question posed is: was it worth the wait?
The album opens with instrumental track ‘Incursion’ which, with its slow and heavy build, causes a sense of unease yet anticipation that will be familiar to those that worship at the altar of Slayer. From here the aptly titled ‘Straight For Your Throat’ displays a relentless march capped off with a wonderful guitar solo which would appeal to fans of other black metal bands like Behemoth. The first half of the album finishes with ‘A Scar For Serenity’, which wields a more trad-metal-influenced riff that is near impossible not to bang your head to, followed by more soaring lead guitar cutting through the noise.
Although these tracks are the standouts that will appeal more to die hard black metal fans, the truly interesting stuff sits towards the back end of the record. Track five ‘Voyeur’ opens with a slower, more atmospheric intro before revealing itself as a lumbering doom laden affair complete with clean female vocals - a fine demonstration of the ‘no limits’ approach the band have mentioned. Following this, album closer ‘As Long As They Fear’ manages to be a halfway house between both the experimentation of the previous track and the melting pot of black, thrash and death metal that came before.
When trying to sum up the individual elements that define Irreversible, it is difficult to pinpoint a real star of the show. For instance, the vocals are audible enough to add a tangible sense of evil to the sound, whilst the drumming throughout is a real tour de force. However, it is fair to say that the real success lies in how the hefty blackened riffs underpin the glorious lead guitar work noted above.
One other strength of this album is the production. Compared to the thin, raw production jobs that are often desired by black metal bands, Irreversible sounds massive. Granted we are not talking about a completely clean affair - this is extreme metal after all and there is plenty of dirt left under the fingernails - but it is fair to say that every element of this record stands out and makes you take notice.
Overall this is an uncompromising take on black metal from a band that, despite being masters of their craft, are not afraid to branch out with their sound in new and interesting ways. Deitus have managed to craft an album that is equal parts furiously heavy whilst still being accessible enough to keep the door open for new listeners. The record is more than good enough to forgive the long wait but also leaves us desperately hoping we don’t need to wait as long for more.
8.5/10
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