Welcome to the world of metal extremes where everything has stalled in frozen beauty. Stony silence in fossilized cold-hearted embrace. Pictures taken from times immemorial back when the first metal dinosaurs roared about the landscape. Witnesses of a dreary world before Metal o’ The Light took over with squeaky clean alloy. A place where only sickly light drips into its eternal darkness and ominous phlegm-filled noises escape.
Behold the Leprous Daylight that the deathly ones of Fossilization freely dispense. Back to the roots!
Alright, this is a debut record, believe it or not. One that reaches us straight from the Brazilian underground with no fucks given. The old geezers at the RMR review desk thought they must’ve missed a well-known Death Metal band at first. But behold, the fossilized ones here came together back in 2020 only. And apart from an EP and a split, nothing much happened over these three years or so.
Leprous Daylight may not come in at a level of pestilence the late Undergang could muster. But boy, did that thickly layered onslaught of Doom Death and Brutal Death Metal rip through our ranks here somewhat fierce. Often at funeral speeds, their rough-hewn brand of Death Metal really took us by the nostalgia nerve. Vocals that operate so far in the background, they could be stamped into stone after all. And all those gurgles, growls, and snarls are so sadistically mangled that you won’t be able to make out the lyrics. That’s perfectly alright and part of a good DM piece. But knowing that a lot of work is sunk into text-smithing, it’s almost a pity to crush perfectly good wording with nasty growls. Just sayin’.
The record gorges with a ton of grander-than-thou riffs. Burly eruptions of often blackened and downturned guitar prowess. A harsh succession of licks and sturdy riffing underlining an inescapable feeling of dispirited obscurity that sets in after a while. And interestingly, it’s not done by doggedly slow-walking everything. Instead, most tracks are reasonably paced and the feeling of doom stems from those often somewhat repetitive riffs and the comparatively frugal yet on-point drumming that spews out of our loudspeakers. The band also went to great pains inserting (some) melody – and that adds to the allure. Add to that a certain amount of swampy sludge and you got yourself a murky, distressing atmosphere.
And once full submersion happened, you’ll find that only Leprous Daylight penetrates into that over-heated and over-brutalized soundscape Fossilization created. In other words, the band managed to create a piece that will engulf you like red-hot lava despite its scarce collection of hooks. And whilst the tracks aren’t exactly similar, they somehow become interchangeable. There’s only so much you can squeeze out of a well-arranged but nonetheless pretty standard Death Metal piece.
Case in point, the RMR reviewers found little in terms of outstanding tracks. The piece mercilessly moves down its dreary path to damnation on an even keel pushed forward by foul yet steady winds. The pair Eon and Wrought In The Abyss definitely deserve a favorable mention, though. And it’s a funky quirk that the band waited until the very end of the 37-minute airtime to turn up the heat some. As to the rest of the tracklist, there ain’t any fillers for sure. But nothing that knocked us off the rocker and out to space either.
But by and large, Leprous Daylight is full to the brim with deathly putrescence that echoes the annals of time when Death Metal was still young. High-quality riffs meet proficient growls, gurgles, and snarls. As good DM pieces must, this record often sports a tremolo fest severe enough to satisfy any Black Metal adept whilst firmly staying with the old tropes Death Metal is famous for. And all rolls in on sickly tremors of doom and damnation. With the outstanding support from the drummer in just the right doses.
Fossilization might this time not quite check all the right boxes for Extreme Metal Nirvana. But they’re definitely on their way. So, if the band can up the ante, add some more juice to their tune, and still increase the heat, they will be going places. And the RMR crew here is already at the outlook post for that sophomore piece to drop in time.
Record Rating: 6/10 | Label: Everlasting Spew | Web: Facebook (band)
Release Date: 8 September 2023