What about – some Brutal Death Metal lost in translation with Technical Death Metal? You know, extreme ferocity that won’t change its attack vector until you either fled or were trampled by the horde. It depends, I guess. On the day and the level of rage that the Dark Lord delivers. Because fury is what you need once Orphalis‘ newest As The Ashes Settle unleashes its wares on your sorry bones.
The RMR crew had its differences with the netherworld of Death Metal’s underbelly. You get a pretty broad spectrum, from pretty atrocious and slammy to brutally refined. Yet here we got a band whose credo is melting brutality with tech death. Not that any one of both would already be ferocious enough. Instead, they had to kick it up a few gazillion notches and create that thing that makes Archspire metal fervor sound like rushed weak tea.
And same as the aforementioned Canadians, Orphalis take no prisoners. Like a vermin extinction squad, they move rush in and go straight for the jugular. And for those who thought that this is just Neanderthal slam without brains, come again. True, for the uninitiated, this may sound like something too fucked up to be pleasant. But for all the beastly metalheads out there, you’ll find a treasure trove of metal delights. In other words, As The Ashes Settle pulls all the registers of that holdall of metallic extremes Death Metal has become. A tightly written 11-track behemoth that roars in on a pretty pristine production with da bass audible pretty much at all times.
You’ll indeed find Death Metal proper, absolutely cool breakdowns into slammy brutality (From Shadows Arisen), and loads of blackened fares (An Effigy to Humanity, for instance). All of this flows in on a mighty foundation of Technical Death Metal vibes. And it is this snazzy mélange of brutal and tech death that renders this record somewhat irresistible. To lighten the load, Orphalis here suddenly chime in with some lighter prog vibes or the odd nod to Heavy Metal that come out of nowhere. But interestingly, not many more ‘impurities’ can be found. This is unclean metal pvrism at the next level.
But – it is also much of the same all over the record. There’s a certain sense of something on endless repeat all along these 43 minutes of airplay. In other words, even Moon Supremacy, that terrible excursion into bad memories of poppy disco sins of long-gone times, couldn’t break up the monotony that settles in. And that turns Ashes here into a long and tedious listen despite its reasonable length. The record is full of astonishing technical geekery but there’s no killer song out there. Nothing that would stick out of that swampy quagmire of cruel metal depravity.
Ultimately though, As The Ashes Settle turned out to be a scorcher that risks burning any festival stage to cinders. Indeed, the name of the piece is an oxymoron of sorts. The delivery of such high-intensity metal will let those ashes settle only after the noize stops and the silence of the lambs returns. Orphalis created an album that often sails pretty close to Abiotic‘s late sins but will surpass the latter in brutality and and straight in your face tech death prowess. A record that shines in the dark metallic beauty of a well-written, technically proficient, and masterfully executed piece of work.
The RMR crew marveled at this expert delivery of a band reaching us from the vile underground. It’s thus a pity that they’re not better known and I hope that this record will help them reach some wider recognition. We are already in the starting blocks for more.
Record Rating: 7/10 | Label: Transcending Obscurity | Web: Facebook (band)
Release Date: 25 August 2023