vasaeleth

Review: Vasaeleth - 'All Uproarious Darkness'

Can metal be truly creepy? Actually writing to send chills down the listener’s spine is a task that few can accomplish. However, with their second album, All Uproarious Darkness, American death metallers Vasaeleth rise to the occasion, delivering a whirling, dense style death metal that both blisters and breathes. The result is a frightening album that keeps the you looking over your shoulder, as if you’re being watched by an unseen malicious force. Where Crypt Born And Tethered To Ruin was a cold medieval dungeon, the latest record is a hot and thick swamp of foreboding; nothing is as it seems and yet it is all part of a greater, more terrifying whole.

Some will level the familiar accusation that Vasaeleth is nothing more than an updated take classic typhoon riffing found on Onward To Golgotha. However, Vasaeleth takes their sound above and beyond the recent glut of Incantation-apers by shifting the focus from riffs to a fully realized album of murk; guitars, drums and deep vocals blur in a cryptic swirl. The double bass drums are a barely audible rumble below the constant snap of the snare, and the guitar tone doesn’t crunch as much as it slithers, weaving its way through terrifying riffs. Yet the production does not falter, elements of the music are distinct and, in fact, the production on AUD can almost be said to be clearer than Crypt Born.

Right now, it’s hotter than hell down in the South. Summer has arrived, the swampy air is thick, and the night rings with the drone of crickets and cicadas. At night, it’s humid and dark and a malevolence stirs in the forest… everything is alive and brooding. Vasaeleth’s death metal is the soundtrack, bringing an ironic vitality to their churning blasts and cyclical guitar-work. Open your window, turn off the lights and breathe, but don’t be surprised if, over the roar of All Uproarious Darkness, you hear a breath beside you that is not of this world.

Look for the LP on August 20th via Profound Lore Records. Stream a pair of tracks, including the freshly released “Black Curse Upheld”, below.


Rhys Williams