Plague Pit - Labyrinthine
With some great death metal albums released this month by Nile and Cattle Decapitation, it's easy to miss the small mercies and unknown gems, such as Plague Pit's "Labyrinthine", a four-tracked death metal EP. Ireland isn't known as the most brutal country when it comes to extreme metal, so that's why it's important to discuss how decent this EP is, and why I haven't heard of this band before.
The band use elements of progressive in their genre to boost the variety in their overall sound, yet the music is still pummeling and focuses on that death metal atmosphere, often entering blackened territories using atmospheric techniques that are often hidden amongst the wave of crushing riffs. Vocals are a strong presence on the EP, consisting mainly of the death metal growl technique, yet also belting out haunting shriek like high screams. The lyrics seem to be based around disease and satanism, once again entering the realm of blackened metal.
Despite only four tracks in length, the shortest among them is nearly five minutes long, with the longest track almost clocking in at eight minutes. Each song appears unique to one another, opener 'Accursed Clay' really highlights how fast and technical the band are, whilst 'Feverish Stupor' opens up the progressive side to the EP, and final track 'Elixir' is the slowest amongst them, touching on aspects of doom in the recent veins of bands such as Black Tongue. It really helps that the production of the EP is crisp, and that's a bonus for such a new band on the scene, who are definitely heading in the right direction of getting noticed by metal fans seeking something refreshing and different in such an overcrowded genre.
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The band use elements of progressive in their genre to boost the variety in their overall sound, yet the music is still pummeling and focuses on that death metal atmosphere, often entering blackened territories using atmospheric techniques that are often hidden amongst the wave of crushing riffs. Vocals are a strong presence on the EP, consisting mainly of the death metal growl technique, yet also belting out haunting shriek like high screams. The lyrics seem to be based around disease and satanism, once again entering the realm of blackened metal.
Despite only four tracks in length, the shortest among them is nearly five minutes long, with the longest track almost clocking in at eight minutes. Each song appears unique to one another, opener 'Accursed Clay' really highlights how fast and technical the band are, whilst 'Feverish Stupor' opens up the progressive side to the EP, and final track 'Elixir' is the slowest amongst them, touching on aspects of doom in the recent veins of bands such as Black Tongue. It really helps that the production of the EP is crisp, and that's a bonus for such a new band on the scene, who are definitely heading in the right direction of getting noticed by metal fans seeking something refreshing and different in such an overcrowded genre.
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1. Accursed Clay
2. The Gift Of Unknowing
3. Feverish Stupor
4. Elixir
2. The Gift Of Unknowing
3. Feverish Stupor
4. Elixir
