Between Roots and Darkness

Blessed By Perversion are a Greek death metal machine and I have really enjoyed their latest effort “Remnants of Existence” from 2020. While by no means anything new or innovative this album has been a short yet very hefty and well-constructed piece of slightly technical but very traditional death metal. Jumping back in time I also checked out their debut full length “Between Roots and Darkness” which shares a lot of the attributes of its successor, but also comes with a few small differences. In summary you cannot really go wrong here in case you liked the second output or have a soft spot for classic death metal in general.

The guitar work is switching between stoic and brooding parts and faster and more aggressive sections. There is a certain melodic factor in the music but not so much at the surface, more subtly woven into the overall sound. There are a few slower pieces where the slightly melancholic guitar sound helps creating an eerie and depressing atmosphere. The interaction between hefty main riffs and short and some more extended lead guitar parts immediately grabs the listener and does not let go until the record clocks in at thirty-nine minutes playing time. A few passages demonstrate the outstanding skills of the musicians, but they never get lost in too much technical complexity and always keep an eye on the steady flow of the songs.

The guitars are the stars of the show with a lot of variation to be found within the thrashy basic chops and the melodic and breathtaking lead parts. The drumming is superb as well, offering well considered patterns that enhance the guitar work with a generous use of cymbals and blasts rather than just presenting a permanent onslaught. Although some of the song structures are a bit more complex and intricate than your average death metal track there is always a certain level of groove incorporated within the music. Vocalist Andreas is doing a great job throwing out his angry grunts and deep growls, although I believe that with “Remnants of Existence” he has even upped a level compared to this album.

In the end Blessed By Perversion are very good at what they do. There are some real bangers to be found on their records, like e.g. track number three “Charred and Unburied Flesh”, which switches between stomping mid-tempo grooves, nasty blast-beat sections and some memorable trademark harmonies. The production is really nice as well, a bit rawer and maybe not as polished as on their newer output. Depending on what your personal preference is that can be seen as positive or not. Overall “Between Roots and Darkness” is also a fantastic dose of pure death metal goodness and fans of the genre must not sleep on this band. Personally I am looking very much forward to their next offering and until then I am going to bang my head to the beat of their two existing albums.