Remnants of Existence

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.