Proper old school death metal seems to be in short supply these days when it comes to newer bands so it’s something of a pleasure to hear that Hierophant‘s new album, Mass Grave, is here to fill in that gap. A band on the cusp of greatness for a while in underground circles, this new album looks like it could very well be the one that introduces them to a wider death metal audience.
It’s difficult to capture the true essence of death metal although many have tried. It’s a genre that does come with certain strictures and if you get it wrong it ends up sounding like a bad example of heavy metal, and god knows we have had enough of bands like that. Hierophant manage to capture the brutality and the groove that is needed to keep your attention and whilst they stray far away from any commercial aspects, they keep an appealing sound, which is inviting to any fan of extreme metal.
Sonically this album is a ball of riffs hurled at you with a rhythm section built on producing a swinging groove. Much like Obituary used to err on the side of slowness rather than full on riff-fests, Hierophant take a leaf out of their book. That’s not to say there’s any let up in brutality and heaviness though, and with this album taking no prisoners within its sludge filled walls.
Highlights are plenty with ‘Hymn Of Perdition’, the title track, and the almost doom of ‘Sentenced To Death’ really standing out. Indeed, the last track is perfect evidence of a band unafraid to bend the rules of the genre to create something much more epic. Its slowed down riff working against the desolate roar of the vocals, providing a break from the perfect storm of the album, only to be thrown straight into the seventh circle of hell once again with the intense ‘The Great Hoax’.
There’s no denying that this is one of the best metal releases this year. The band from Ravenna, Italy have really stepped up a notch and giving the right promotion could find themselves as standard bearers for the scene. Mass Grave has the hallmarks of a defining album for the band and not a moment is wasted throughout its running time. Brutal, intense and intelligent, this is how metal should be done. Superb stuff.
