Profane Doctrines Unburied

Like the ash laden dust of long lost tombs getting caught in a frozen wind, Decrepitaph come crawling from the caves of the long dead, bringing with them the delights of the rotted and suffering deceased. Profane Doctrines Unburied is a suffocating miasma of lost and angry spirits hitting with the full force of the demons that terrorize their every un-living moment. Few albums this year, or ever for that matter, are so skull crushingly heavy and loaded with suffering. This California two-piece of Sinworm and Elektrokutioner(already too brutal for most people) have been summoning the undead of old school death-doom at a blistering rate, with three full lengths and a dozen or so demos , EPs and Splits since their horrendous creation in 2005, and all this practice has paid off with Profane Doctrines Unburied.

The production is the thing that stands out the most, in that everything sounds musty, old and decrepit. The guitar tone is incredibly thick and choked with distortion, and the stumbling pace of the bowl rumbling bass remind one of the shuffling steps of a monstrous undead abomination. The bass drum sounds like it is made of freshly butchered meat: a wet thump of a hammer coming down onto the brain cavity of a hapless victim. This attention to detail is impressive, and the songwriting takes maximum advantage of the sound of the album. Each track is written like the slow, deliberate steps of the undead: with a flesh devouring purpose. Only occasionally, like the opening flurry of "Convulse In Eternal Agony," to things speed up somewhat. But expect no blast-beats here: heavy influenced by the sounds of Finnish death-doom, Profane Doctrines Unburied takes its time to inflict its damage on your soul and ear drums. The solo work is also fantastic: off-kilter, sloppy and with a guitar sound as close to a wailing banshee as you have ever heard, the solos are creepy and used to brilliant effect, particularly on the song "A Suffocating Evil."

It is hard not to be massively impressed with Profane Doctrines Unbruied. While it won't win any awards for originality or inventiveness, the album is incredibly polished and focused: Decrepitaph know exactly what they want to do and implement their ideas to almost complete perfection. The occasional dragging song length or over-use of riffs is a small price to pay for the near perfection that Profane Doctrines Unburied gives the listener. If the dead rise in our lifetime, this will be the Clarion Call that leads them on their endless rampage for flesh and freedom from their pain.

Rating: 9/10

Originally posted at http://curseofthegreatwhiteelephant.blogspot.com/

Ever noticed how a lot of reviews of new death metal albums follow a certain pattern? If it’s a band that formed within the last decade, it automatically gets compared to the same classic death metal bands from the late 80’s/early 90’s that are still at the top of the heap. If it’s a veteran band from the early days of the craft, the album gets compared to their previous work. I suppose such comparisons are warranted IF they are accurate, but there’s really something to be said for a band that intentionally does not drift away from the death metal path, yet has a sound all its’ own so you can tell it’s Decrepitaph right off the bat without the need to think, oh they sounds just like this band or that band.

While keeping the tradition of mid-paced death metal, Elektrokutioner and Sinworm add horror-soaked doom to the mix as they have on previous efforts. Their biggest trademark is probably the ultra-thick guitars that don’t necessarily resemble the sound of any one band, but rather set them apart from the rest. Also in their usual fashion, blast beats and double bass are present, but are used (thankfully) sparingly. Way too many bands get caught up in the Krisiun approach of blasting their way through 90% of their album and it really takes away from the intensity in the long run. I really enjoy this band’s ability to create an evil sounding riff. Simple as it may be, I’m a sucker for a well-placed, extra evil sounding riff and the strongest example is probably the riff that kicks in at 1:35 in the track, “Suffocating Evil.” This is of course in the more doom-style part of the song, but there is another riff in this tune that keeps the evil feeling, but also has a blast beat going on - a good thing when bands do that effectively. Profane Doctrines Unburied is loaded with sounds of that nature, so if that’s how you like your death metal, you’re in the right place. “Evangelical Evisceration” is another good representation of this. So, you might be asking, what‘s new here? What separates this from “Condemned….” and “Beyond?” Well, the formula for this album is largely the same, except that I think there has been a step up in the musicianship. There are a good chuck of guitar solos here that sound pretty well-thought out. I wasn‘t expecting the album to be void of guitar leads, but the first one in “Convulse In Eternal Agony“ kind of surprised me. Things seem a bit tighter, too and you really have to appreciate it when a band can stay in the same ballpark without repeating themselves.

For those of you that absolutely HAVE to have a comparison to other bands of the same dm ilk, here you go…. I suppose if you took Sororicide‘s general sound and multiplied the thickness of it by 5, took the death/doom transitional sensibilities of Asphyx and put vocals to it that fall somewhere between Dominus and “Realm Of Chaos“ era Bolt Thrower (with that grunting from down the catacomb sound), you‘d have an idea of where Decrepitaph stand. I say this also because after reading other reviews, elsewhere of this album, I‘m a little puzzled by some of the comparisons. I think if I were in a room with everyone, I‘d be content enough to politely speak up and say, “No, I don‘t think they sound like Entombed,” but Hooded Menace??? What the hell? I‘m just not hearing it. There is more to this than what comes to mind by traditionally name-dropping the same 5 bands and cramming the word, “old-school” in there as many times as possible. There’s some other good and interesting moments on here. One that got my attention was the riff around the 3:00 mark of “Mortified Spirits,” which crushes, but in an unsuspecting way, almost like the riff at the end of the Coroner song, “Pale Sister,” but way the hell less awkward. I’m hesitant to use the term groove, because there’s a certain class of metalhead out there that is going to think I’m talking about Life Of Agony. Maybe I’m over emphasizing here, but it’s that kind of thing that displays the progression of the band. Oh, well. What more do you need to know? Get this and enjoy the audio equivalent of gory horror movie festival. (And that wasn’t a Coroner comparison).

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't all that much blown away by Decrepitaph's debut album, "Condemned Cathedral." Not that it was horrible, but
more that there was just something missing from it. What that something was, I wasn't able to figure out at the time. But some time after the release
of "Beyond the Cursed Tombs," I was tempted to give them another try, so I did. That one was much more impressive. For one thing, the guitar tone had
more bite to it, adding that little something extra to their "Diabolical Conquest of the Left Hand Path" kind of sound. Which brings us now to the third of the storms, "Profane Doctrines Unburied."

The darkened death/doom sound that we've come to expect is of course still present, and the production is probably the best that the dynamic duo of Sinworm and the Elektrokutioner have gotten yet. The things you liked from Decrepitaph in the past are still here, it's just more of it. More brutal (not br00tal dammit!) riffs, more vocals from somewhere beyond the sewers, and more lyrics of the dead, decayed, cursed and forgotten. From what I've heard, the next album is already at least written, but won't be unleashed from the crypt until 2012. By that time, given how prolific a writer Elektrokutioner is, I expect they'll have four more albums worth of material ready to go. Hey man, how about you spread the wealth out among some of your other projects like Loathsome, Foreboding, Tombstones and Beyond Hell?

Originally published in {\link http://metalnightmareblog.blogspot.com}

Today, I’m here to present you with Decrepitaph’s new album, Profane Doctrines Unburied. Decrepitaph is a band that I’ve heard a lot in the past, but until now, I’d never gotten around to checking them out. Well, with the release of this album, I’m glad I finally did, because this is some seriously good old-school death metal.

Hailing from Texas, these guys have no legitimate regional sound to draw from. At least nothing like Florida or New York, that is. So what do these fuckers do? They merge the Floridian sound with a solid slab of Autopsy worship to make a delicious combination of ferocity and doomy melodicisms that will satiate any true death metal fan. Now, I’m not a big Autopsy fan (although I do respect what they’ve done), but Decrepitaph take the Autopsy formula and add that little bit of extra brutality I need to enjoy it more.

The riffs here are fucking huge. I could just end it at that, but I’ll elaborate a bit. These riffs vary from anything from the fast, tremolo-picked death metal styling that we know and love to the plodding, triumphant thud of a slower riff, to a nasty-as-fuck doom riff, to the lovely Floridian chugging that’s a staple of death metal as we know it. This is basically a riff gallimaufry buffet, and I love it! It offers riffs from every style of death metal, but all of it feels like a natural extension of the songwriting. This is not some jumbled mess of an album, but instead a beautiful intertwining of various influences to create something awesome. ‘A Suffocating Evil’ is a perfect example of everything this album does correctly in the riff department.

While the riffs for the most part feel like a merger of influences, the solo here simply scream of Autopsy. The solos are my favorite part of Autopsy’s music, so of course I dig this. They’re slow, doomy, emotive, mood-evoking, and often work devilishly well with the preceding riffs. ‘Ghost of the Gallows’ is a pretty interesting tune, being an instrumental mix of slow leads and solos that simply eat away at you if your in the right mood. This is one of the more oddly structured death metal instrumentals I’ve encountered as of late, and I must say that I really like it. Maybe it’s my preference for faster-paced death metal that keeps me away from tunes like this, but I really like this anyway.

The last track here, ‘The Crucifix Crumbles (A Decrepit Epitaph)’ deserves a paragraph of its own. It is a culmination of everything Decrepitaph does well on this album, all merged together into one nine minute song. They manage to keep this song engaging with its many riff changes and downright fun drumming (nothing new, might I add, but I love OSDM drumming), to its vocal delivery, which seems at its best here with its nice, low guttural rasp. The solos do what they’ve done for the whole album, and I’m just left impressed. Did this track need to be nine minutes long? Hell no. Am I complaining? Hell no. The excellently planned salvo of fast-paced blastbeating is simply a great way to end the album, although I’m not fond of the fade-out that they used.

Standout tracks here are the killer ‘Convulse in Eternal Agony,’ ‘Desecrate Sacred Flesh,’ ‘A Suffocating Evil,’ ‘Evangelical Evisceration,’ and the last track. If you like death metal, then fucking get this album. I predict that this will be on my top 10 this year, or at least in competition for a spot there.

Written for http://thenumberoftheblog.com/

Decrepitaph has been around for a while now. Formed in 2005, this is the band's third full length not to mention a host of splits and eps and on the evidence of Profane Doctrines Unburied, seems to be reaching maximum velocity. Having said that, Decrepitaph are not your standard 100 miles per hour death metal band with a hundred riffs per song. What these guys are is an unabashedly old school duo with a thick guitar tone and song writing sensibilities straight out of 90s death metal.

The album starts with a short intro and then proceeds to first song proper, Convulse in Eternal Agony. Just that song title should tell you everything you need to know and if you're thinking Autopsy, you're not far off the mark. The band specialise in slow heavy as fuck riffing which at any time could mutate into classic death metal riffing and something that most modern death metal bands have forgotten, the groove. Mortified Spirits is probably the most catchy song here and that slow eerie doom riff will get stuck in your head for days. Domain of the Occult is another mid paced monster and reminds me a fair bit of Acts of the Unspeakable. Desecrate Sacred Flesh is another monster with guitarist Sinworm again playing some very cool riffs and channeling the spirit of Incantation. This is an album that gets better as it progresses through its 50 minute playing time. Evangelical Evisceration is another raging death metal beast but its the instrumental Ghost of the Gallows which really stands out in the second half of this album.

While the slower parts are reminiscent of Autopsy, the faster death metal riffing is vaguely similar to classic Entombed and Dismember with maybe a bit of Incantation on the side. Calling the band a perfect mix of Autopsy and Entombed might sound simplistic but its also pretty accurate and that guitar sound is just perfect for this kind of death metal. Dirty, heavy as fuck and completely old school with no hint of the Gothenburg sound or anything remotely modern.

Sinworm and Elektrokutioner have crafted a fine death metal album here. Maybe it's one song too long but i cant find much to complain about. A definite step up from Beyond the Cursed Tombs which in itself was a killer album. Overall, if your tastes run to the extreme side of things then Profane Doctrines Unburied should be on your shopping list.

http://frozenrapture.blogspot.com/

Some people work 40 hours or more each week. Some people just spend 40 hours each week watching their investments on an iPad while they sip martinis by the pool on their private yacht. But some, rarer specimens spend about 80 hours per week laying out drum tracks for brutal, old school death metal albums. Alright, maybe just one individual: Elektrokutioner, who returns to Decrepitaph with multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Sinworm to produce yet another tour of the morgues and sepulchers of puerile antiquity. Profane Doctrines Unburied is the third full-length from this project, and it picks up directly where the Conjuring Chaos EP and previous efforts left off, in the sullen murk and decay of a genre that still writhes like a pile of corpse-worms just beneath the surface soil of the present.

Intricacy is not the mindset here, but thudding riffs and percussion that compete for guttural space with Sinworm's entirely blunt invocations of rotting flesh and morbid ritual. Like the past albums, you'll hear traces from a wealth of archaic influences like late 80s Obituary, Deicide, Pestilence, Autopsy, Incantation and so forth, spliced with some resonant, creepy doom melodies in "Desecrate Sacred Flesh" or "A Suffocating Evil". Like Condemned Cathedral or Beyond the Cursed Tombs, this seems to be a rather well rounded effort without the strength of distinct, individual tracks, so its best left to those times in which you commit 50 minutes to festering, overbearing gloom and bludgeoning evil, without even the illusion of hope. Personally I found the deeper I traveled into the content here, the more hypnotic the experience would become, as if my corpulent form was being used as the focus of some foul summoning act. It seems to climax around "Mortified Spirits" and "Domain of the Occult", but it's also 'fun' getting there, and I like the instrumental "Ghost of the Gallows" quite a lot.

Whether your craving old school death or death/doom (like Hooded Menace or one of Elektrokutioner's other bands, Father Befouled) without the usual Swedish sound off, Profane Doctrines Unburied should do the trick. It moves with all the spunk of a shambling corpse just reanimated in a peat bog: slow, but just as pestilent and deadly if it can clasp its groaning jaws upon your appendages. The entire album reeks of obscurity and disease, and it's just as tight as either of its predecessors. No fucking around, no fucking off, simply sincere and accursed old grandfatherly gore that can sooth the horror obsessed misanthrope dwelling inside each sick one of you. Fuck the future. Let the past swallow you anew.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com