Albeit Denouncement Pyre’s major debut World Cremation, finally released after a slew of demos and EPs, does not revel in any novel ideas at all, it is funny how some albums still click with rightness. This album seems to do it somehow in spite of its very standard mixture of black, death and a hint of thrash - and mostly old school, of course.
I wouldn’t, however, go as far as saying there’s absolutely nothing innovative here. True, these blastings and evil tremolo riffs sound familiar to anyone who’s even slightly aware of the style, but careful attention to details reveals some genious reworkings of ideas used on various other records in the past, such as the sudden clean yet mysterious chords on ”Purification” and the nicely done Beherit and Archgoat worship on the following track ”Coven of Diabolical Prophecies” (one of the album’s highlights) - or just the sheer ferocity of certain sections on ”Black Womb of Magdalene”. Not to forget the bookend, 7-minute ”Invination of Poison” that features the most original ideas of the bunch with its interesting, semi-melodic guitar lines and almost grooving drums.
Production-wise, World Cremation lacks almost all bass (well okay, it is there but not that much audible), so that the album is a real feast on high-end, sharp and piercing guitars. The tightness and near-absence of bass might be the reason why this album doesn’t garner as much attention as names like Profanatica and Nocturnal Blood receive with their cavernous and morbid sounds that are easy to rejoice in. My only advice to those who are reluctant to give this album a proper go because of the not-that-heavy sound is to try to realize the sheer kick ass quality of these compositions that don’t need the facades of reverb and bass.
My first spin of World Cremation was when the album was in its release stages and it was freely streamable via some website. I remember liking it but somehow pretty much forgot it until I now got it in my hands for review purposes, and luckily I did as it turned out to grow much more after a few additional runs. World Cremation isn’t, of course, anything revolutionary by any means, and some songs clearly pale in comparison to some others, but heck how I do enjoy this blackened death menace all the way through. Do yourself a favor and check it out too if it happens to hit the right spots in you as well.
I wouldn’t, however, go as far as saying there’s absolutely nothing innovative here. True, these blastings and evil tremolo riffs sound familiar to anyone who’s even slightly aware of the style, but careful attention to details reveals some genious reworkings of ideas used on various other records in the past, such as the sudden clean yet mysterious chords on ”Purification” and the nicely done Beherit and Archgoat worship on the following track ”Coven of Diabolical Prophecies” (one of the album’s highlights) - or just the sheer ferocity of certain sections on ”Black Womb of Magdalene”. Not to forget the bookend, 7-minute ”Invination of Poison” that features the most original ideas of the bunch with its interesting, semi-melodic guitar lines and almost grooving drums.
Production-wise, World Cremation lacks almost all bass (well okay, it is there but not that much audible), so that the album is a real feast on high-end, sharp and piercing guitars. The tightness and near-absence of bass might be the reason why this album doesn’t garner as much attention as names like Profanatica and Nocturnal Blood receive with their cavernous and morbid sounds that are easy to rejoice in. My only advice to those who are reluctant to give this album a proper go because of the not-that-heavy sound is to try to realize the sheer kick ass quality of these compositions that don’t need the facades of reverb and bass.
My first spin of World Cremation was when the album was in its release stages and it was freely streamable via some website. I remember liking it but somehow pretty much forgot it until I now got it in my hands for review purposes, and luckily I did as it turned out to grow much more after a few additional runs. World Cremation isn’t, of course, anything revolutionary by any means, and some songs clearly pale in comparison to some others, but heck how I do enjoy this blackened death menace all the way through. Do yourself a favor and check it out too if it happens to hit the right spots in you as well.
3.5 / 5
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