Remnants of Existence

From the deep and dark catacombs of the Greek underground death metal scene, the young band Blessed by Perversion emerges to blow my mind like no other band hadn't in quite some time. This is their follow-up album called “Remnants of Existence” which is kind of short; only 24 minutes and 33 seconds. Nevertheless, it felt like it was quite a journey into the catacombs of inhuman existence and original death metal.

“Descending to the catacombs” starts the record as an acoustic, mysterious, and occult intro that sets the mood for what’s to come. I felt like I was descending deep into caverns, tombs, and underground galleries full of rotten bodies and remnants of ancient civilizations now extinct. Once you are into the mood, the bands hit you in the face with “Gallery of Bones”. This track is full of tempo changes and interesting dynamics that will be the staple through the whole record. Zig-zagging guitar patterns and a monumental atmosphere almost solemn at times. I think that’s the Hellenic touch the band imprints into their death metal and it certainly works for good, makes their music feel original and fresh (believe me, that’s something difficult to find, especially in the death metal scene).

I consider that even though these musicians are pretty young, they're highly talented and skilled. The vocalization of the singer is outstanding it does not fall into gurgling or grunting, it’s guttural and brutal but understandable, guitars are sharp as blades that cut deep into your flesh as you are begging for more. The drum work is consistent and flawless throughout the whole record. The drummer plays in favor of the band’s songwriting and production, not against it. His skills are technical; however, he does not want to show off and overshadow the rest of the instruments. The bass is audible and I appreciate that fact. For instance, in the song “Atonement Refused”, which is my favorite song, by the way; the bass makes the production beefier and more ominous. I wanted more; I was craving for more after each tune! The record execrates death in a very refined and intelligent way, there is no need to exaggerate with gory lyrics. Each song is a little treasure to discover and every time I listen to “Remnants of Existence” I am more convinced of that idea. For example, songs like “Among the tombs of ancient gods” and “Caverns of torture” have many catchy riffs, killer drum patterns, and brutal lyrics that enrich the overall experience. The album is full of killer songs, there are no fillers or fat in this follow-up record. After a while into the catacombs of inhuman existence you just emerge at the end of the record to the surface of the earth only to face a mass extinction event with the track “Within monumental chaos”. The record closes with an epic, mid-tempo, and monumental song that evokes apocalyptic landscapes of mass human eradication. As I mentioned before the album blew my mind for its simplistic yet effective and catchy atmosphere. It is not pretentious or over-produced. The production lets the music breathe and the songs take their time to develop the lead motive, ideas are completed masterfully in each of the tracks. The band also draws influences from old-school death metal acts like Morbid Angel and Nile, however, keeping their own distinct and unique identity intact, they worship and respect but do not copycat.

All in all, the follow-up of Blessed by Perversion “Remnants of Existence” kept me entertained and blew my mind big time. I don’t want to exaggerate but with more production, these guys will become the next Nile! The music takes its time to breathe and develop in each song and the whole record feels organic and original. If I had listened to this record last year it would have entered my top five favorite albums of 2020. Blessed by Perversion is destined to kick serious ass in the next years, I think we will continue hearing from these guys and the third album will be even more brutal than this one. Highly recommended.

So, my current thoughts on very short albums. The good: they don’t tend to get boring, the material should be of better quality, the songs may contain less fat, and they fit more easily into my schedule. The bad: some ideas might be underdeveloped, you get into the listen and then it’s over, that feeling of being short-changed. However, I’ve come to realize that there’s probably another reason - one not on my list - for bands like Blessed By Perversion choosing to release a 25 minute full-length, and that’s notoriety. Regardless of the actual quality, the album already has a statistical talking point, one which will likely stick in the mind of an interested observer. I also note that I tend to listen to short albums more frequently, not needing to “set aside time” as I might do for an hour-plus experience. This will be my last word on why Remnants of Existence features just 5 full songs.

As far as the Greeks’ profile, I’m sure I’m not the only one introduced to Blessed By Perversion due to the insistent promotion for this new album. These guys have been interviewed by Metalegion magazine who I write for, appeared in friends’ reviews, and even in my inbox as a direct review request; really, it was inevitable that I would listen. Fortunately, their hefty death metal makes itself quite agreeable to my tastes too, hitting a tasty balance between all-out heaviness, hooky features, and a sense of blackened atmosphere that owes a little to their countrymen Rotting Christ and Septicflesh. The instrumental introduction ’Descending to the Catacombs’ makes it known what the quintet value in terms of themes, sculpting a kind of unveiling of ancient terror that gets picked up by the skittering, alien interplay between drums and guitars on ‘Caverns of Torture’, as well as the feeding frenzy of its solo. I find it refreshing to see a band using their technical moments to assist the atmosphere, not merely throwing in complex rhythms for the sake of it, while it does no harm that even the more common riffing parts carry with them a sense of majestic decrepitude. Evocative melody lines hover just above the riffing at times, acting as masonry detail on the frontispiece of a forgotten temple that suddenly looms out of the jungle. In brief, the sound is both monumental and precise.

I’m also keen on how these guys feel old-school without bothering to be old-fashioned. Connecting deep growls and rolling dry chugs to more fluid sections, breaking into more erratic tremolos, and layering those subtle keyboard themes over the top, ‘Gallery of Bones’ never has a particular revelatory moment but continues unabated with strong links and sensible forward momentum. Blessed By Perversion don’t fiddle about with breakdowns, choruses, or any other structural imperatives, tapping into the early Floridian style by keeping intensity up through the drumming even while the guitars pound and groove, sometimes returning to the better riffs for a second go. Those minor features of technicality or showmanship, such as the micro bass solo in ‘Atonement Refused’, flavour the unidirectional flow by minor shifts in rhythm or density. Without them, certain songs could become a little monotonous, especially ’Among the Tombs of Ancient Gods’, which retains its impressive wall of sound for much of its length.

As a full entity, the brevity of Remnants of Existence doesn’t cause any significant problems, but the album also doesn’t feel audacious enough to warrant such a curtailed runtime. The brand of death metal presented by the Greeks satisfies as a meaty, occasionally hooky mix with a good shot of atmosphere, targeted more to the old schoolers though not especially alienating any faction, be that Floridian, Stockholm, or the tech crowd. With death as logical and unfussy as this, I can’t help get caught up at the better moments, and I’m not even the greatest fan of the genre. Considering this is only the second full-length from Blessed By Perversion after a 2010 start, I would figure they have now hit the point where they could be a festival hit or a headliner at local shows. If only they had a couple more songs, that is.

2020 - despite being a weak year - brought some meaningful albums, even among less associated names. One of them is the Greek Blessed By Perversion, whose "Remnants Of Existence" quite seriously surprises - especially in the context of "Between Roots And Darkness". While earlier this band evoked the most associations with the late Deicide and basically did not differ much from the known patents, the quintet flew with it much further on the "Remnants...". The music on "Remnants..." can be described as a mix of Vital Remains, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide (sic!) or Morbid Angel, without so many fast paces, but a lot of climate and technique! To make it even more interesting, Blessed By Perversion also added some ideas completely unrelated to the above-mentioned bands, which means that something like original patents appeared in the music of the Greeks. In general, something that is currently highly desirable in this style.

So, "Remnants Of Existence" is still death metal sticking mostly to medium temp, though more brutal than its predecessor and with much more momentum. It surprises with ingenuity (and the number of "catching") riffs (like those from "Atonement Refused", "Within Monumental Chaos" or "Galery Of Bones"), with even stronger vocals, again very reasonable melody or ease in changing between motives (by the way, very good varied). The Greeks simply gave the above patents in such an individual way that even if something is associated with a band, in their performance it takes on a completely different feeling and shows that you do not have to play anything fancy to overwhelm with ingenuity and sound peculiar. However, at this point, I must emphasize that the band does not stick to "Remnants..." everything that is standard for death metal. Well, the whole cd was completed here with...keyboard inserts close to a symphonic black metal! And the best part is that Blessed By Perversion didn't get failed up at all. Of course, I would prefer the band to emphasize the bass more than to displaying the keyboards, but as I say, it's not something that is very disturbing to the album - especially since it functions in the background.

The strangest thing is that "Remnants Of Existence" has only 5 tracks (+ intro), which in turn makes up only a 24-minute disc. This time generally suits me there, because it's better than having too many song (and the album will get more times to listen), but one additional or hidden/bonus track would certainly not hurt the whole of "Remnants...". Especially since there is a lot to listen to and the band itself has made a significant step forward.

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2021/03/blessed-by-perversion-remnants-of.html

Another promising band, returned at the end of last year with their new record. After an EP, a split and their first full length album, "Between Roots and Darkness", the Greeks Blessed by Perversion released their second album, "Remnants of Existence", last December. In this album, death metal is trapped between melodic riffing with black influences, leading to a complex result. The progressive element, the melodic riffs and the raw growls take the album to the next level and classify it as a masterpiece of its kind.

A more-than descent production, with a mixing which does not wrong any instrument and with a high-level mastering, without any chaotic sounds that someone can find in other similar releases. Close to the style of Deicide and Morbid Angel, without mimicry and with their own identity, Blessed by Perversion bring you close to the old and honest death metal scene. Creepy lyrics, clear and heavy guitars, bass and drums that change speed by leaps and bounds, and a voice from the depths of the earth make you shudder and want to listen to this record again and again.

The album consists of six tracks. A different beginning is made with the instrumental piece "Descending to the Catacombs", that introduce you to the deep darkness that will follow. But like I said, this is just the beginning. The value of the band is fully reflected in the tracks "Within monumental chaos" and "Caverns of torture", which follow.

Excellent technically structured riffs and solos by guitarists Kostas Foutris and Manolis Kouelo, take us to horror scenes. A pleasant surprise is the new member of the band, the drummer Vassilis Nanos. Deep and clear playing, with extremely fast blast beating, which stand out even more in the track "Within monumental chaos". The deep and powerful bass of Vangelis Nanos, makes the music even more aggressive and reminds us of old authentic death metal productions. The spearhead is the vocalist, Andreas Moschopoulos, who with his brutal vocals looks like the hell below our feet.

A very remarkable work from the underground death metal scene, worth listening to.

When I read the name of the Greek band Blessed by Perversion for the first time, I thought, hm, the name is not so great chosen. But I nevertheless listened to their second work “Remnants of Existance” and I must say that despite the somewhat, let's say, provocative name I am positively surprised by the music.

The cover is worthy of a death metal CD, it is held in dark colors, very gloomy and apocalyptic, so the visual impression is already successful. But how is it musically?

"Blessed by Perversion" play quite technical death metal, which is located in the mid-tempo range. When I say technical death metal, by the way, I don't mean the technical fiddling from the drawing board that some bands play, but as a reference Monstrosity came directly to my mind at the first listening, whose last album is stylistically quite similar. From the song structures as well as the vocals, which are quite deep and in places are underlaid with distorted growls. However, the band does not simply copy, but underlay their songs with quite vicious keyboard sounds, which makes the tracks quite varied and interesting. If you listen to the album more often, other influences like (due to the keyboards) Nocturnus (A.D.), Suffocation, Atheist or even the more technical Death albums (especially Human) come to mind.

These influences are quite clearly recognizable in songs like “Caverns of Torture” (listen to the riff and compare it with “Souls to Deny”) or also “Within Moments” (the keyboard and the bass could also have been used so or so similar in “Human”). However, there are no songs on the album that really stand out, the compositions are all on a pretty good level.

The production is as a death metal production should sound , the instruments are all produced balanced and the voice is aggressive and powerful.

Blessed by Perversion have written a very original and entertaining album, which does not copy from their influences, but skillfully combines their features into an independent work. If there are points of criticism of the album, then the playing time, which with less than half an hour in my eyes (and ears) is much too short. Perhaps a cover would have made a nice bonus candy.

Rating: 8,4 out of 10

I have lamented the state of modern death metal before. Bands that go the atmospheric route sacrifice the necessary aggression, the aggressive ones quickly descend into exhausting hyper blasting and the ones that do slow down often get stuck in a dull groovy rut. Even the bands with a more old school approach often end up with something that doesn’t quite impress as much as the works they are emulating. Because of this, it is good to have bands like Greece’s Blessed By Perversion, who do a highly admirable job of making old school death metal ready for this century.

Please don’t worry if that makes it seem like Blessed By Perversion is modernizing death metal, because they wear their early nineties death metal influences on their sleeves. The Floridian scene appears to be of particular influence, but despite clearly taking influence from the likes of Morbid Angel and some of the other early death metal bands that did not have much of a thrash metal influence anymore, they also work some nifty progressive features into their music without being too ham-fisted about it. The production on ‘Remnants Of Existence’ is also clear and contemporary in a way that truly emphasizes the music.

What Blessed By Perversion does particularly well is weaving the horror atmosphere that was so prominent when death metal was slowly turning into its own thing into their compositions. This is emphasized by the use of subtle keyboards in tracks like ‘Caverns Of Torture’, an arrangement trick that brings ‘Chapel Of Ghouls’ to mind, but the haunting guitar melodies of Kostas Foutris and Manolis Kouelo are ominous enough to achieve that effect by themselves. Vocalist Andreas Moschopoulos has the perfect grunt for this type of death metal as well, as it is deep and grimy, but still decipherable.

Another revelation on ‘Remnants Of Existence’ is drummer Vasilis Nanos. He resists the temptation of cramming all the space he has full with hard hits and constructs parts that really sound like a part of the composition. The doomy closing track ‘Within Monumental Chaos’ in particular truly shows what a musical drummer he is. Near the end of the track, bassist Vaggelis Nanos also injects some cool little bass fills, which made me realize how deep and powerful his bass sound is. Another highlight is ‘Among The Tombs Of Absent Gods’, which has a few almost Suffocation-esque technical riffs and a cool unpredictably timed middle section, but still retains its aggression.

If there is an issue with ‘Remnants Of Existence’, it would be its length. Blessed By Perversion presents the album as a full length, but it’s not even 25 minutes long. I could easily have listened to double the length of this music. And that is a compliment, because many death metal albums exhaust me after less than this album’s length. The Greeks deserve all the praise they can get for striking a perfect balance between aggression, atmosphere and slight technicality, proving that neither of those elements have to go at the cost of good songwriting.

Recommended tracks: ‘Within Monumental Chaos’, ‘Caverns Of Torture’

Originally written for my

Blessed By Perversion is an underground death metal band from Greece. I’ve had many positive experiences with Greek bands, especially in the progressive realm but also in the death and symphonic metal categories. So this one seemed worth a shot. Their latest record “Remnants of Existence” was released late last year and it’s a compact 24-minute long release (rather an EP if you ask me) consisting of 6 tracks, one of which is a creepy atmospheric intro of intertwined clean and driven guitars.

The 5 tracks that are to come, all put on display a raw, dark and menacing form of death metal, stepping into the blackened death metal territory. The atmosphere is really menacing and the sound is pretty brutal. The riffs are very high-octane, driven and consistent. There are hardly any breaks in the constant grinding that comes from the guitars. The blackened influences emerge primarily from the frequent use of tremolo picking and the not so clear production sound, although it is still balanced enough to sound tight. But it’s the drum performance that impressed me. At first it seems pretty basic, relying on double bass and a regular repetitive snare pattern but it’s not long before it shifts into some pretty extreme blast beats and drilling transitions.  There’s a pretty cool balance between technical, racing parts and slower moments or breaks clearing the air for a bit as far as drums are concerned. And there are even some unexpected rhythm changes popping in. I wouldn’t call this progressive by any means, but some moments tend to break patterns and catch you off guard a bit.

For the most part, it’s a pretty regular death metal sound. It’s good but nothing to throw me out of my seat. However, they have a few tricks that I really appreciated. For one, the previously mentioned shifts in rhythm tur it up a notch. And there’s a cool alternation between fast grinding parts and slower, heavy moments, most notably on the final track, “Within Monumental Chaos”. There are also some sick bass moments that I really liked in the first 3 tracks after the intro. The whole soundscape stops and for a brief moment it’s just the bass taking us into the next musical phrase. And it also seems to spring forth from time to time drawing your attention away from the riffs and vocals for a moment.

The vocals are basic death growls in a low register, not excessively brutal or guttural but low enough to fit into the grave tone and mood that the songs create and harsh enough to get a good amount of aggression going. By the time the album is over, it turns out to be a bit more intricate and detailed than I expected when it took off and it has its clever moments, but as a whole it seems pretty basic and doesn’t do that much for me. However, it does its job as a blackened death metal record and also shows some technical proficiency.

Originally written for The Metal Observer.

Leave it to the Greeks to find what death metal is often missing! Blessed by Perversion play the genre at its catchiest, without veering into “melodic” territory; and its most atmospheric without ever sacrificing an ounce of heaviness. If that sounds like a long way of saying “please more keyboards in my death metal!” well yes that’s part of it. But the traditional metal instruments, as well as vocals and lyrics, do a great job of forging the atmosphere too.

Andreas’ vocals are very deep, reminding me of Paul Kuhr from Novembers Doom in his ability to sound at home with slower passages as well the conventional death metal pace. His tone is mostly comprehensible, which is good because the lyrics are worth it. Take this example from “Gallery of Bones”:
Wooden crosses everywhere
A graveyard under the view
Of their eternal monument
A barren landscape covered with dead soil
Great stuff! I’ll take that bleak nihilism over aggressive anti-religion any day.

Instrumentally, it’s the last two songs on Remnants of Existence that best encapsulate Blessed by Perversion’s two styles. First, there’s the pummeling ferocity of “Caverns of Torture”. Kostas and Manolis on the guitars treat us to a duel between choppy bursts of tremolo, and juddering crunches that are so heavy, they’re almost percussive. At their best, Kataklysm did that, so did Dutch greats Severe Torture. Blessed by Perversion keeps right up with those guys. Then we’re back to the haunting atmospheric side with album closer “Within Monumental Chaos”. Song absolutely merits its title! I love how the keyboard picks up the creepy clean guitar intro, before giving way to a lumbering march of electric guitar. When done right, slow death metal can be heavier than the faster stuff; and “Within Monumental Chaos” accomplishes that on a level at least equal to Morbid Angel’s Blessed Are the Sick.

You want fierce high energy death metal? You want a horrifying ride down the dead corners of the human spirit? It’s all here. I’m looking forward to more Blessed by Perversion albums - also, to longer albums, please!

Remnants of Existence is some Christmas present, all right, never mind the fact that we ended a horrible year. It needed this type of record in such times, coming out on Christmas. With one musician replacement over the years, it took the band four and a half years to come up with their sophomore, and it’s a bit disappointing that their EP is almost as long as this record. With the amount of songs (excluding the prelude) that resemble the exact same amount of their EP’s, you can consider this an EP in itself. It’s like those slam metal bands that record 20-ish minute records, and they’re labeled as full-lengths. Alas, they’ve released another masterpiece! Gallery of Bones was my introduction to the band, which occurred roughly a week ago. Other Greek bands, like Dead Congregation and Dephosphorus were at the top of my list first, but this band deserved the utmost recognition first.

I like the variation between the atmospheric songs to the traditional ones. The first two songs and last one are arguably the best material the band wrote so far. The melodies, the keyboards in the background to contemplate for the atmosphere and the crushing riffs, bass lines, and blast beats that showcase the Greek death metal scenery. Of course, you can’t forget the death growls. Atmosphere is a required feature in Greek extreme metal. As musicians, I believe they’ve improved overtime and challenged themselves further, as the music on this record sounds technical and unusual than before, despite the predictable songwriting.

Not that these songs are terrible; well other than the single Caverns of Torture which was the weakest song on the record. Among the Tombs of Absent Gods has a darker atmosphere than the rest, considering the lack of melodies. That’s where the song failed. Again, the variation is much appreciated, but this record, giving the melodies and keyboards, could’ve used a darker and melodic atmosphere. As for said single, it was kind of throwback to the band’s older material, which didn’t belong on this record. Since the tracklist contains two 4-minute songs, two 5-minute songs, and one 3-minute song, perhaps two extra minutes should’ve spent on Among the Tombs of Absent Gods, to expand more on the direction.

Blessed by Perversion earned themselves another fan! Maybe 90% is a little biased, but as I’ve already stated, I believe this record showcased the band’s improvement as musicians and songwriters and reaching for another mile, writing challenging music and implementing atmosphere. Whatever type of release the band records next, I hope it’ll sound like Remnants of Existence. And for crying out loud, if you’re going to record a full-length, please don’t make it 24 minutes! You have some amazing material here.

This album reminded me somewhat of '13th Beast' by Malevolent Creation, only not as aggressive. Still a good sound though, absolutely! This is no generic Greek-based death metal band. This is a band that's trying to get established in the metal arena. I cannot say for a fact that this is a step up from their last LP because I haven't heard it. But it sure as well is a great release for 2020. These guys are belting out good, solid riffs. And the vocals are the Glen Benton of the 21st century, especially on 'The Stench of Redemption. Enough of those comparisons though, we need to dig deep on why it's good to like this band...

"Gallery of Bones" has probably the best riffs on the album. However, I did like the bulk of the songs. They show maturity and originality. The vocals are BRUTAL and the riffs go along side the vocals quite well. I like this style...I thought that even though there's 6 songs on the album in less than 30 minutes, they do have a lot to offer the listener. There isn't much variability on here in terms of tempos they're pretty much even keel. But the riffs themselves are invaluable. Well, I thought that originally, but the more I got into the release, the more that they became of great value. Some of the best riffs on a death metal album in 2020.

I still give them a "B" average because there were a few things or points I took off from. That would mainly be the production quality being somewhat raw, but not entirely. They show great worth and value. And on top of that, the variability can be quite high. What I mean is that they play around with sounds it's not all just 24+ minutes of brutal death metal. There are some clean guitars that segue into heavier, thick riffs. And the voice changes only a little bit. I can accept the intro to the album for what it is...slow and clean, but just you await to what's about to hit you with the next 5 tracks!

This album is NOT available in CD via Amazon, but digital copies are available and the LP is on YouTube and Spotify. Catch the wicked leads, catchy riffs, and awesome vocals! I liked this album pretty much right away and it brought back the memories of newer Deicide (vocals) and later Malevolent Creation (as I indicated in my introductory observations). But they have their own unique sound to them indicating their influences as well. I thank Andreas from the band introducing his band to me. Definitely one that one album in 2020 that shall be in the archives as one of the great releases last year! Check them out!

The latest album from Greece’s Blessed by Perversion is an interesting cocktail of fairly standard death metal riffage that has been given a new lease life thanks to the commentary of melodic riffs borrowed from their black metal countrymen. In fact, the riffs with a more overt death metal flavour are kept deliberately primitive, to the point where they act as little more than percussive interludes set in contrast to the complex tremolo picked meanderings that makes up the real bulk of these tracks. The result is an interesting hybrid that looks like a death metal album cut from the usual template of the modern style, but manages to smuggle in degrees of subtlety beneath this deceptive veneer.

The production in part explains this. All is clear, crisp, digitally precise, with clicky double-bass drums and the same guitar tone we’ve heard a hundred times before on modern death metal albums. But credit where it’s due, the bass can be clearly heard thundering away beneath the meaty mix, and this instrument is given frequent moments to shine as it announces the next passage whilst the other instruments pause for breath. Vocals are low but not quite guttural by death metal standards, with clarity retained to discern some of the lyrics within the fray. Understated keyboards make regular appearances, following the chord sequences of the guitars. Again, although the literal application of subtle synth tones is nothing noteworthy, it adds an interesting layer of ethereal mysticism to this otherwise mechanical operation, elevating the music above simple metrics of brutality and rhythm into something with a distinctive character.

Generic production values aside, the playing and arrangements are executed flawlessly. The drums consistently refresh the guitars, framing or interrupting the flow of each track as required. They are able to jump from fluid blast-beats to accenting the percussive punch of the basic death metal passages, further accenting the contrast between the two. The guitars themselves exhibit a similar compulsion to throw out moments of soaring melody at unexpected junctures, forever linking this back to the dirty death metal soil from whence it came. It’s an interesting push and pull of primitivism contrasted with regal harmonic tendencies that elevates this album above the polished, mass-production qualities of the general presentation.

One other thing to note is the scarcity and briefness of the solos (with the exception of the epic closing number ‘Within Monumental Chaos’). Whilst solos in themselves are only as good as the execution and placement within a piece, it is noteworthy that Blessed by Perversion largely shun them as a creative tool. Deciding instead to spend their creative energies in carefully crafting these riffs toward a culmination in their own right. Any heightened drama and chaos that solos can add is almost an afterthought for this band; a ‘nice to have’ but not by any measure necessary.

But taken as a whole ‘Remnants of Existence’ is a work that takes the rudiments of modern death metal at its most generic and moulds them into a sophisticated compass of melodic and rhythmic interplay. By borrowing the bracing theatrics of Greek black metal, chunks of Finnish death metal, and a tight imaginative rhythm section ultimately elevates this release into something more enduring than at first appears.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

Greece has one of the strongest metal scenes all across the globe so I am not surprised anymore whenever I stumble upon another great gem. This time we are not talking about a black metal or power/traditional metal band, but a classic death metal commando going by the name Blessed By Perversion. These guys have been active since 2010, with one EP, one split and their debut full length “Between Roots and Darkness” from 2016 under their belt. In 2020 they have followed up with their second album, titled “Remnants of Existence”. We got 5 songs and an instrumental, adding up to less than 25 minutes of playing time. It could be argued that this one should be classified as EP, but the music is so intense and straight-to-the-face that one could get the feeling of having dosed a larger amount of death metal goodness.

Blessed By Perversion are not so much about reinventing the wheel as the tracks here bring classic death metal sound and fury to the table, heavy in both atmosphere and groove, which hearken back all the way to the early days of the genre. This, of course, is where the band’s and album’s true strength lies, not in attempting to come up with something completely new, but in seeking simply to present their own interpretation of it, to bring the past into the present. Honoring the grand-fathers of the genre while injecting a good portion of additional freshness is what this band is trying to do. And while I am as keen as the next man to see bands continue to push forwards and progress, sometimes the best way to do that, the best way to express what is in your heart, is to look to and learn from the past.

The basis chords have a well-known classic and slightly monotonous sound, subtly sawing their way through the listener’s brain. Working as a counterpart to these basis accords lead guitar parts show a great variety and offer some nice and often technical usage of the scale, throwing in some addictive tone sequences and epic interludes in other places. There are a few moments with extended soloing and those sections are really impressive, bringing some technical skills to the forefront, but the main purpose here has been to write some rocking and pounding death metal tunes. The origin of the influences can mainly been found in Florida, but some of the patterns and more melodic moments also carry a definitive European vibe.

The songs are competently written, and tracks like the closer “Within Monumental Chaos” have a lot of the attributes that made the genre so popular. The mixture of hefty riff attacks and ripping blasts, groovier sections and more laid-back pieces makes up for a very entertaining listen. Vocalist Andreas delivers his growls in a competent way and is the final piece in the puzzle. Something similar can be said about the production, which is powerful yet organic. There is enough crunch without any instrument being buried in the mix. The physical version comes with a great cover which would also look nice on a shirt. So in case you are in the mood for a slab of well done death metal you should not sleep on Blessed By Perversion and get a copy of “Remnants of Existence” – it is clearly worth it.