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░ ██ ██ Artist: Desultory ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Through Aching Aeons █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2017 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2017-08-02 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Death Metal ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: Pulverised Records ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ In whatÆs become a common theme in my last handful █
█ of reviews for the wonderous world of Metal █
█ Injection, SwedenÆs Desultory is another band I █
█ have vivid recollections of spending many lonely, █
█ sexless nights with during the barren early æ90s █
█ before losing track of them. In the case of these █
█ death thrashers from Stockholm, it wasnÆt so much █
█ that I lost track of them as much as they lost me █
█ after their 1996 album, Swallow the Snake. And █
█ even then, it wasnÆt because that album saw them █
█ eschewing many of their Scandinavian death metal █
█ roots for the sort of southern stoner rock █
█ Corrosion of Conformity was doing from Blind █
█ onwards. Nah, it was because they broke up soon █
█ afterwards. Dissolving into thin air will do that █
█ to oneÆs profile. However, the band has apparently █
█ been back since 2009 and Through Aching Aeons is █
█ their second release since their return. Who knew? █
█ I sure as hell didnÆt. █
█ █
█ Through Aching Aeons has Desultory returning û █
█ again, I havenÆt listened to 2010Æs Counting Our █
█ Scars to compare û to the style and approach of █
█ their first two highly respected, though largely █
█ unheralded, records: 1993Æs Into Eternity and █
█ Bitterness, released a year later. Back in that █
█ day, as death metal and the pockets of noise that █
█ coalesced around various regional locales like █
█ Tampa, Stockholm, Montreal and the English █
█ Midlands came to greater prominence, and thrashers █
█ grew increasingly tired of their heroes chasing █
█ success with ballads and white-boy funk, those █
█ early Desultory records whittled away at the chasm █
█ between the two subgenres. Possessing distinctive █
█ elements of both subgenres, the band found █
█ themselves falling somewhere between the harder █
█ approach of German and New York thrash, the █
█ ubiquitous sound of early Morbid Angel and that █
█ which was made popular by their fellow countrymen. █
█ Where the band is coming from now is where they █
█ started off, albeit with years of experience and █
█ the restlessness of rejuvenation working in their █
█ favour. █
█ █
█ Starting off with the shifty, side-winding █
█ staccato riff of ôSilent Rapture,ö Through Aching █
█ Aeons presents as a band that has been let loose █
█ after being restrained by a double-reinforced █
█ straight jacket; the uncoiling is quick, strikes █
█ hard and cuts deep, especially the way the █
█ rhythmic punches lock into drummer Thomas █
█ JohnsonÆs kick patterns. The material may not be █
█ oppressively crushing or bowel rumbling heavy, but █
█ the lithe and lean sleekness Desultory pounce with █
█ is incisive and fierce. Their brand of heaviness █
█ is insidious; ôIn This Embraceö ignites with █
█ almost (older) Cynic-level technicality, a flurry █
█ of riffs that jump all around the fretboard and █
█ tempo charts with protruding shots of bass a la █
█ Cryptopsy and the surprising well-formed phrasing █
█ of guitarist/vocalist Klas MorbergÆs scathing █
█ growl basting together what could have crumbled █
█ into a dizzying mess in other hands. ôBreathe the █
█ Bleeding Skyö may have a completely unnecessary █
█ acoustic closing section, but the rest of it █
█ masterfully weaves a layer of modal melodies over █
█ the sort of riff that At the Gates has been trying █
█ to write for years. ôDivine Blindnessö marries █
█ rapid-fire, black metal atonality with Left Hand █
█ Path catchiness and the ominous, mid-paced crawl █
█ that Clandestine and Like an Everflowing Stream █
█ used to great result, though without the oddball █
█ sounding out-of-tune bass used here. Being a █
█ primarily rocket-paced mixture of all of the █
█ above, ôBreathing the Ashesö shouldnÆt come across █
█ as lethal or flow as smoothly as it does, what █
█ with all the tempo changes, the melodies coming █
█ and going, the bass emerging from beneath the █
█ guitarÆs gristly clamour and the sheer number of █
█ riffs and variations on those riffs. █
█ █
█ This appears to be where DesultoryÆs talent lies; █
█ making cohesive sense of what on the surface █
█ appears to be an unfurled mess. The quartetÆs deft █
█ ear for how to embrace what some people might cast █
█ aside as wildly diverging parts is their strength. █
█ Where they lack is some of the additional █
█ instrumentation intros, outros, segues and the █
█ closing track ôOur Departureö which may signal the █
█ end of their fifth album (hopefully not their █
█ existence), but also is a departure in that its █
█ sounds forced and phoned in when compared to the █
█ seething attack of Through Aching AeonsÆ █
█ remainder. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. Silent Rapture 4:07 ░
░ 2. Spineless Kingdom 3:08 ░
░ 3. Through Aching Aeons 4:28 ░
░ 4. In This Embrace 4:55 ░
░ 5. Beneath the Bleeding Sky 6:05 ░
░ 6. Slither 3:16 ░
░ 7. Divine Blindness 6:18 ░
░ 8. Breathing the Ashes 5:02 ░
░ 9. Our Departure 6:36 ░
░ 43:55 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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