The seed of Desecresy’s music contains a basal melodic notion or two, not without poignant appeal, which then comes to gradual bloom in an unhurried, self-assured manner. Songs on principle do not outstay their welcome but Desecresy’s approach towards writing revolves solely around realizing vehicles for this germ of an initial premise, in the process sublimating the interstitial stuff that goes into the making of a fully-fleshed, narrative piece.
Flirting rarely with outright aggression, Desecresy prove adept at developing the elegant, bittersweet melodies typical of Finnish death metal, using a mid-tempo style reminiscent of Bolt Thrower, Vore, and Ominous Crucifix for these hooks to sink in. The result is an album curiously devoid of visceral thrills but one that will serve perfectly well as amicable background accompaniment.
This is no slant against the band. Desecresy’s intentions are redoubtable but they could conceivably be making more resonant death metal if they gave away their Honour-Valor-Pride CDs and let their collective imaginations take flight. While the lack of variation in speed renders a sameness to much of Chasmic Transcendence, it is obvious that this is of the band’s volition. Desecresy choose to meander along this detourless path, confident in betting the house on the inherent quality of the melancholic nuggets they litter through the album; more than a few of these are thoughtfully crafted, and capable of launching songs on an altogether different trajectory in another band’s hands (see Creepmime or Deathevokation). Unfortunately, for Desecresy, the monotonous, simplistic nature of bridges linking these phrases — usually little more than a muted, open string or rambling, inconsequential power chords — makes these songs a game of waiting for the next cute part.
This, of course, is a caveat of this particular style of droning death metal; the few good bands trawling these waters are able to create a consistent mood on an expansive, album-wide scale. Desecresy can certainly not be accused of striking discordant notes in this respect; Chasmic Transcendence is a relatively seamless experience but that is a low bar to meet when the band’s sense of adventure clings so close to the ground.
Tags: atmosphere, chasmic transcendence, death metal, desecresy, drone, xtreem music
At first I thought “Chasmic Transcendence” was too simplistic but then I realized how carefully Desecresy built these songs so that the album can be either experienced as a collection of short pieces (like a Nunslaughter album, for example) or as a whole where all the pieces fit together (like the first Profanatica album, for example). This is not the kind of rockish bullshit death metal that Bolt Thrower did on their last three albums. It may be not as good as “The Doom Skeptron” but it is still impressive.
My main grouse is that the music is collinear and exists solely for the purpose of getting from point A to point B. While this makes for a certain simple elegance, and though you could also argue from a high-level perspective that ultimately all music is about an origin and a destination, the journey surely counts for something too. With this album, I find that everything between those two points A and B is so much dead weight.
I think I know what you mean but what you call “dead weight” I consider an important part of the “journey”. It is difficult for me to explain this. It would be easier for me to do this in German.
The Doom Skeptron is a far superior album to this one and the first one by Desecresy.
How does this hold up against Slugathor ?
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tHERE is no much difference between this release and Bolt Thrower’s MERCENARY flamed on the archives a few years ago.
If you just look at the surface then there also is not much difference between “Left Hand Path” and “Tales From The Morgue”.
Basically, death metal should be fitting riffs together not making sweeping atmosphere like funeral doom, amirite? If Desecresy made a cross between their second and third album it would be amazing.
This was a good article; please give us more in-depth anal-yses in this vein.
I think the album was beautifully descibed in the article “The Best Underground Metal of 2014” a few weeks ago.
*described
“…if they gave away their Honour-Valor-Pride CDs…”
Never!