What is the sound of death metal in 2014? With all of the cross-pollination that's happened over the past 10 years, it can be hard to keep track of the current trajectory of the style. However, if you wanted to put your finger on the pulse of death metal, the vibrations you'd feel would be very much like Ageless Oblivion's new album, Penthos.
For the impatient reader who wants to know "what these guys sound like", Ageless Oblivion is clearly rooted in the crunchy bombast of bands like Nile and Black Dahlia Murder, but also has a few more dissonant and off-putting elements that remind the listener of Deathspell Omega, or perhaps even Inquisition in some parts. And though their music has a very familiar ring to it, the band should not be accused of being completely derivative in their approach. In a way, they bring together a unique mix of several different shades of death metal, a mix that points to possibly greater things to come.
But that shouldn't deter you from checking out this album. Hell, the cover art would be enough to get me interested. Cover art was once an indicator of what the album had in store for the listener. And though there was an awful period in the mid-to-late 90's where everything became a bit of a wash out, we've happily moved on from that and with Penthos, the ghastly and mesmerizing art sets the stage appropriately for an equally dazzling listen.
The album benefits from a good balance between the band's intentions to be progressive and experimental, and yet still skull-piercingly brutal. The album's strongest points come when they keep their progressive side under control, while not letting killing the same riff over and over again. The band strikes this balance most effectively on songs like "Wolf's Blood" and "Glacial Blood", which also features some well-placed, throaty melodic vocals at the end of the song. Oftentimes, extreme metal bands try to incorporate deep melodic vocals into their songs, with very awkward results. But here, and on "Those Fed of Light", Ageless Oblivion strikes another great balance between being a death metal band and introducing another side of themselves to keep the listener interested.
Sometimes the band's riffs sound a little too robotic, and the arrangements come across as a predictable. Aside from the aforementioned use of melodic vocals, Ageless Oblivion could be confused with many other death metal bands out today. Though this shouldn't be used as a definitive strike against them as a band. Stephen Jones' vocals fit the part perfectly, and David Porter manages to seamlessly weave together machine-gun riffing with more ominous and dissonant arrangements. And thankfully, the band has avoided the trap so many others have fallen into over the past few years of just blatantly making the guitars sound like Meshuggah. And honestly, any band that can compose a song as ambitious as "Where Wasps Now Rest" deserves our respect.
Though there isn't much that really distinguishes Ageless Oblivion from many of their contemporaries, Penthos is still a good death metal album. Ageless Oblivion describes their sound as "A soul crushing sonic nightmare." If that's where death metal stands today, then I think Penthos shows we're in a pretty good place.
7.5/10
Favorite Songs: "Wolf's Head", "Glacial Blood", "Where Wasps Now Rest", "Those Who Fed of Light" and "A Crawling Ingression"
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