Forever in Blood

When it comes to blackened death metal, I like my tracks strong, mean, and brutal. So when I began listening to Dehumanized Deity's "Forever in Blood" I had high hopes. Within moments of the first track starting however, I discovered that rather than brutal riffs and crushing rhythm I was in store for something extremely low-fi.

Although many bands can make the low-fi sound work (hell, it is the trademark of BM), Forever in Blood suffers from the chunky static and questionable mixing. Particularly off seems to be the cymbal hits, with a ride that sounds fairly tinny and high while the rest of the drumming can seem barely audible at times. The vocals are also not my particular style. They are not bad, by any means if one enjoys the trademark "cookie monster" sort of vocals often attributed to death metal, but for myself they do nothing.

The first half of the album is almost entirely forgettable, with slim exception given to short sections in "Beyond the Realm of Insanity" (~1:40) and "Black Forest Witch Cult" (The intro to this track was the first thing that really made me sit up and pay attention). However, Once track number five "Darkness Divine" comes on, the album really begins to hit a stride that doesn't begin to fade until the ninth track. "Darkness Divine" is at times reminiscent of Mayhem's Freezing Moon, and builds a good black metal atmosphere with the growls becoming more guttural and riffs beginning to hit a harsh gallop. Of the entire album, this would have to be my favorite track and the one I would say not to miss.

The album continues along at a good clip up until track nine at which point the music seems to regress into the earlier forgettable state, and the final track was wholly lack-luster. An unfortunate finish for an album that quite suddenly became promising half way through.

Overall, Dehumanized Deity's debut "Forever in Blood" is not a particularly stand out album. There is redeeming qualities to tracks five through nine, but the rest of the album is the sort of low-fi that makes me cringe. The band shows potential to become something enjoyable, but I can't say I'll be returning to this release.