Remnants of Existence

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.