Veneration of Filth

Crawling up from the depths of Texas is a grueling death metal act by the name of Church Of Disgust. Their first album Unworldly Summoning dropped back in 2014, but their most recent effort Veneration Of Filth capitalized on everything the band did well. Their brand fits in with the occult and Lovecraft-inspired types that add a lot of doom to their traditional death metal base.

The abundance of trudging and grizzly riff styles are what give Church Of Disgust such a horrendous sound. If that’s not enough, the drum kicks are absolutely monstrous, and I love the tone of them. But the biggest improvement the band made was in the vocal delivery. Before, this was one of the weakest points, where-as now the delivery has loads more variance and sounds less throaty. It greatly complements the rhythms in songs like “Ripping Decay,” as they’re heavy enough to cause plates to shift.

On the contrary, there are times where Veneration Of Filth achieves breakneck speeds. “Corpses Of The Dead World” is such an angry song that the fast injection gives it the title of the most threatening tune present. Furthermore, “Supine In The Face Of Total Death” has some of the most abrasive punches to offer, which follows the creepy interlude. The only real downfall is that by the time we reach the last couple of songs, the inspiration takes a bit of a tank, which brings the overall product down. Shaving off ten minutes or so could have helped things in that respect.

But at the end of the day, this disc showcases tons of improvement from what was previously rather mediocre. Fans of Bestialord would dig this, as it’s similar in style but not nearly as tight or on point regarding songwriting. The title of the band and album is fitting, as all things present are brought on in a filthy manner. Fans of death metal or occult themes, this is a good way to ease into the spooky season!

Originally written for Indy Metal Vault