A Wolf in the Kingdom of Heaven

Ah, good old home-grown UK death metal; an uncommon proposition, to be sure. When one says death metal, generally the UK is not a land most would associate with the genre, with thoughts turning with far greater speed towards the American and European groups who have long held sway over the genre’s history. But UK death metal rages on regardless of who pays notice, and many bands are usually an excellent discovery when you do come across them, offering superb opportunities for a straight-down-the-line session of good old fashioned headbanging.
Aghast are a band who are one such worthwhile discovery, specialising in the kind of death metal that owes more than a tip of the cap to Suffocation at their heaviest, with a hefty dose of Meshuggah-style twisting rhythms thrown into the mix for good measure. Their approach is certainly one you‘ll have heard before, and one that will have no lasting impact, but by no means should this deter anyone from checking Aghast out, if only to engage in a good bout of violent neck-snapping mania.

‘A Wolf In The Kingdom Of Heaven’ holds the rare distinction of being one of those releases based largely upon breakdowns and beatdown riffs, and yet still managing to avoid sounding utterly and totally appalling. By and large these days, breakdowns have become the international warning symbol for stunted musical creativity; Aghast defiantly avoid this pitfall by complimenting their core musical approach with the deathly crawl and sinister atmosphere of modern doom metal, topping off the EP with vocalisations that wouldn’t be out of place on a black metal record.

‘Forced To Kneel’ works fantastically in establishing the EP’s tone; an ominous, ultra slow introductory passage speaking of impending doom, it unleashes it’s fury in superb fashion, segueing professionally between fast and slow tempos without missing a beat, never diminishing in intensity and never overextending any part of the song – no breakdown is so long as become trite and dull, switching to intense yet carefully considered blasting at the best moments possible to maintain interest.
‘Assume The Position’ is easily the standout track on the record, and the only song to crank the pace up the entire way through. With an engaging main riff, top notch deathly barking, a pounding blast beat assault accentuated by entertainingly over-the-top pinch harmonics and high pitched screams worthy of the harshest black metal, this is the song with one hell of replayability factor, and one of hell of a good one to headbang along to.
‘Chum’ meanwhile, is perhaps the only dull song on the EP – despite vocalist James Anson’s excellent approximation of Ihsahn at the bridge point, the song is somewhat overindulgent, and when it breaks into a melodic interlude the end result is ultimately confusing, the brief solo and almost jazzy cymbal hits sounding entirely out of place.
‘Mind Atrophy’ makes up for this, opening with a riff and drum pattern that sounds like the backing music to a death march, followed up by their trademark blend of fast and slow tempo shifts, helped along by vocals taking on a more anthemic approach – the melodic section at the midpoint sounding akin to Anaal Nathrakh if they were ever to slow down to any degree, serving as an excellent conclusion to the record.

‘A Wolf In The Kingdom Of Heaven’ may not possess anything that will fundamentally change your perception on death metal, and while they gamely adapt the breakdown formula to great success, undoubtedly this will still turn off the dedicated opponents of breakdowns in the modern death metal scene. However, there is no denying that Aghast are a band who do not pretend to offer more than they are capable of, and what they are capable of is delivering tight, concise deathly delights that beg you to incite a pit to. For any fans of straight up, no frills metal, looking in Aghast’s direction will do you no harm.