Corpsessed
Abysmal Thresholds
Dark Descent Records
Street: 02.04
Corpsessed = Demigod + Deathchain
This album, the first full-length from this Finnish death metal band, is just unrelentingly brutal. Songs travel the gradient between suffocating sludge and insane tempo, with some sporadic keyboard elements that soften certain moments without sacrificing the horrific atmosphere. The way the thick vocals of Niko Matilainen are layered makes it sound like he is screaming from the depths of a stygian prison, echoing against the rough guitars and crashing cymbals, and creating something strangely hypnotic. The production is a little flat, not necessarily in a negative way—in fact, I think it adds a charm compared to contemporaries, even in the death metal genre, who over-polish their work. It sounds dirty and infected, and adds to the crushing atmosphere. –Megan Kennedy