Vastum has never shied away from examining the darkest corners of the human experience and psyche. On their newest full-length release, Inward to Gethsemane, they employ expertly crafted and ruthless riffs to continue a critical examination of the divine and profane, the sane and insane, and the torturous ways in which such dichotomies function within our world. Through the course of seven tracks, the Bay Area quintet has managed to create another powerful and thought-provoking death metal masterpiece.
Vastum was formed in San Francisco, California, in 2009 and contains some of the hardest-working musicians in the scene, sharing members with bands the likes of Acephalix, Necrot, Cardinal Wyrm, Ulthar, and Mortuous (to name only a handful, not to mention significant solo work). The current lineup of the band includes Leila Abdul-Rauf on guitar and vocals, Daniel Butler on vocals, Chad Gailey on drums, Shelby Lermo on guitar, and their most recent addition, Colin Tarvin, on bass. Vastum independently released their first album, Carnal Law, in 2011. This was followed by Patricidal Lust in 2013 and Hole Below in 2015. Hole Below received critical acclaim, including the 19th spot on Pitchfork’s “The Best Metal Albums of 2015” list. In 2019, Vastum released their fourth studio album, Orificial Purge, through 20 Buck Spin. The album continued the band’s exploration of dark and unsettling themes, receiving praise for its intense and atmospheric sound.
On the current album, the band dives headlong into the dark corners of a Freudian hellscape of incest and abuse with the opener, ‘In Bed with Death’. The song utilises several central and brutal riffs, with some excellent touches of lead work, to create a wonderfully chaotic tumult. ‘Priapic Chasms’ follows, relaying a dark and cryptic situation filled with morbid imagery in which the narrator feels abused, unnoticed, and trapped in a voiceless state. The third track, ‘Stillborn Entity’, continues the sick riffs while grappling with the philosophical themes of creation, existence, and the divine. The song is particularly noteworthy for the wide range of vocal approaches by Abdul-Rauf and Butler, including hints of vocal harmonies.
‘Judas’ is a shorter, largely instrumental, piece that has the feel of the melodic side of Carcass circa Heartwork, ending with a spoken word section by Butler. The album then launches into a classic Chad Gailley drum fill (and yes, I’m thinking of the opening of Necrot’s ‘The Blade’) to mark the start of the most up-tempo song on the album, ‘Indwelling Archon’. Given how incredible their live shows are (if you haven’t seen Vastum live, you’re missing out), this is a song that will cause the roof to blow off most venues, right down to the stomping end of the song, ready-made for utter pit brutality!
The album concludes with the one-two punch of ‘Vomitous’ and the almost epic final track, ‘Corpus Fractum’. The former is a dark retelling of the “Agony in the Garden” from Christian lore, emphasising the themes of suffering and disorientation. The listener is particularly haunted by Abdul-Rauf screaming the repeated lines, “In Agony”. Beginning with a momentous wall of guitars and some choice samples, the album’s concluding track is its finest. The song’s use of a descending tremolo-picking lead drenched in reverb at the front end of the song adds an increased depth to the material, a depth mirrored throughout the track in its employment of varied tempos and the resurfacing of synths and vocal harmonies about halfway through. This is Vastum at its peak level, forcing us to confront the darkest of themes (those of turmoil, brokenness, and blame, to name a few), all the while embracing us sonically from varied directions. The song ends on a fadeout with Butler repeating the lines “Inward to Gethsemane”, the title of the album itself, in his trademark occasional use of monotone voicing.
To boil it down, Vastum has done it again, unleashing a visceral and challenging album on the world. What I know for sure is that this album will make my list of top releases in 2023.
