Good, down-home Death Metal can be a cathartic experience. Specifically, the technical variant is one of those that will burn that mental fat right off your pitch-black soul. If you got one left, that is, of course. The RMR crew ain’t too sure anymore at times. We might have inadvertently sold something to a daemon or five on our forays into the occult, the blackest of Black Metal.
But I digress, back to the deathly ones. It has indeed been some time since real Death Metal brutality was on the menu over at the office tower. And this time, Hideous Divinity struck our mighty playlist with a thunderous thump. Unextinct, they called their newest concoction. And it got fire in its putrid belly, telling terrible stories about unspeakable things. Those that must remain undead and sentient in tortured spirituality for eons. The tale of the numinous one.
First and foremost, Unextinct is a friggin’ behemoth of a Technical and Brutal Death Metal piece. All of the above includes some tasteful forays into delicately blackened territory that appear here and there on the record. Raw, rough, and straight in your face, the album’s merciless onslaught truly rocked us back on our haunches. Navigating somewhere in between Archspire and the delicate airs of Cult of Lilith, the record is so fucking loud, it will inject a few extra nuances into the age-old saga of the metal loudness war. We didn’t think that possible.
But make no mistake, for adepts of ferocious Death Metal, Unextinct might very well become that go-to piece for 2024. The Italian stallions of Hideous Divinity will hit you with a super-compact wall of sound full of geeky chuggery, breathtaking solos, unearthly excursions to shredding nirvana, and incessant drum work that’s just short of excellent. Enrico Di Lorenzo‘s ceaseless rough growl and a shouted mean croak never falter. Boy, you’ll even get treated to some pained clears on Leben Ohne Feuer. A contribution that sounds like a crazed Moonspell affair from the afterlife. And I would be amiss not to mention Stefano Franceschini‘s bass work. The instrument is always there but it has this tendency to suddenly raise its mighty voice and move forward in the mix. Finally, a band that puts this often ignored instrument to good use.
Funkier still, all of a sudden, ambient moments appear. Samples full of dark atmosphere and weird yet hauntingly fitting melodic interludes will pop around the corner like some jack-in-the-box from some horror movie. Disembodied voices and evil laughter haunting you from outer space, weird little ditties that appear out of nowhere, it’s all there to create a feeling of doom and damnation. But, I also reckon they did this to break this relentless assault up a bit. Because – believe you me – Unextinct ain’t anything for Extreme Metal n00bs, let alone adepts of the light. And the lack of accessibility and rampant complexity may very well turn out to be its major flaw. Or – in other words – hobby metallists will flee this place once the mighty wall of sound engulfs them. This is just too brutal of an affair.
But ultimately, Hideous Divinity crafted a rare Death Metal moment for 2024. Unextinct may not be the most accessible and you’ll need a few attempts to get into it. But once you are in the groove, the piece turns into the gift that keeps on giving. In many ways, the album feels like some sort of masterclass as to how to construct tech death with an evil streak and boundless energy. Nothing is lost in the mix and the master feels pretty crisp. Furthermore, the often abundant sampling, the atmospheric interludes, this otherworldly look and feel truly create a record that is never boring. And at times there’s almost too much going on at once. A fact that may turn away a number of future fans of the ominously flickering Church of Hideous Divinity.
But as to this crew, Unextinct is a record we wholeheartedly recommend. Raw, abrasive, monstrous, brutal, wild, and still melodic enough to please. A true piece of Extreme Metal for the connoisseur. This is one helluva record. You should try some if you dare.
Ed’s note: Find the band on our Malevolent 2024 Series. It will be worth your time.
Record Rating: 8/10 | Label: Century Media | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 22 March 2024