The Mortal Horizon

Finland’s Desecresy have been throwing out LPs at an impressive rate and quality in the last few years. All follow a similar structure and approach, but each one builds on the last in cautious, logical steps. Following in the footsteps of those masters of mid-paced death metal Bolt Thrower, the backbone of their music is those chugging riffs backed up by pounding double bass, overlaid with minimal yet powerful leads. Imagine Bolt Thrower circa ‘The IVth Crusade’ onwards, but with the mechanical production of ‘Realm of Chaos’, that’s pretty much what Desecresy are serving up.

‘The Mortal Horizon’ (2017) sees them focus their approach and lengthen their attention span. Desecresy on previous releases have always been victims of their own originality. The ingredients are death metal, but when mixed by these Finns they turn into something different. Micro songs all of a very similar design give rise to something akin to ambient music in structure, as the intensity builds and falls irrespective of where we are in each track. Lack of variety in the guitar leads can also induce a disorientation in the listener. But the quality of the music, combined with the sheer charisma of the cold, inhuman delivery, has always held an appeal.

On ‘The Mortal Horizon’, broadly the same techniques are utilised, but with a greater focus in the riffcraft department. The structure has a logic more in line with metal traditions than the electronica and dark ambient of previous releases. It is amazing how a little extra dynamics, tempo shifts, and through-composed riffs can completely change what is at the level of timbre, the same music. Yes, the production has been cleaned up somewhat, the reverb has been reigned in, the drums are more varied and clear, but aesthetically this is largely the same as previous Desecresy albums.

They have also dumbed down the Bolt Thrower worship, veiling it behind the renewed focus on more complex leads and how they can determine structure. One should also not under estimate the power of quiet/loud contrasts and how they can shape music to the composers will. The result is laid back, minimal death metal that aesthetically has more in common with industrial and electronica than it does anything metal. But the underlying compositions are in a simple yet imposing death metal tradition; akin to early Amorphis playing industrial music.

Desecresy’s ‘The Mortal Throne’ is the more frustrating release, because it is more unique. One can feel these familiar components twisting and morphing into new space for death metal and just falling short in the clunky, flat pacing of the album.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

With five full-lengths since 2010, Desecresy has certainly proven to be one of the revitalizing forces in bringing ancient Finnish death metal back to the spotlight. Sure, their forebears like Convulsed and Demilich have still been touring, or putting out newer albums, but it's always cool to have some fresh new voices in the scene. Of course, by 'fresh', I mean a festering, guttural nightmare that sounds like it's been moldering away in some cavern alcove since that era in 1993-1995 when this country's death metal royalty was emerging onto the international market as an oblique, rotting overseas proxy to groups like Incantation, which were making strides in the sonic spelunking field here at home. Albums like Arches of Entropy and The Doom Skeptron were not among the most robust in their niche, their production values weren't quite on the level of Disma or Dead Congregation, but they were nonetheless charming for their commitment to subterranean creepiness and cover artwork which used simple dual-tone color schemes to create an almost demo look.

Those two albums and the subsequent Chasmic Transcendence were where my interest in the band reach its summit, whilst Stoic Death felt like more of the same, and to an extent so does The Mortal Horizon. The cover doesn't quite hold the same appeal to me, and neither does some of the music. Don't get me wrong, when Desecresy is working at that slow, drudging pace, gut rumbling chugs paired off against haunting or droning melodies, they certain relive a little of the magic of why I started listening to them in the first place, but when one really stops to dissect the rhythm guitars a little they all seem relatively bland or predictable and would have a hard time thriving without that higher pitched accompaniment. They've often had a very sincere, organic production on the drums, and that's very true of this album too, but I sensed that this often leeched away a little of the power that the music might otherwise hold...it seems such an inhuman, underworld sort of death metal that having beats that feel like they're playing next to you in a jam room on an off night countermands the potential atmosphere. The belly-busting bass grooves are quite good, as well as Tommi's growl, but you can tell a bit more here than on prior efforts that this is primarily one musician, and not all the instruments resonate equally through the recording.

In The Mortal Horizon's favor, it sets up these wonderful atmospheric intros to cuts like "Concealed Depths" or "Telekinetic Ignition", using guitars alone to invoke otherworldly escapism, but then once some of the full on heaviness arrives they often seem a little on the disappointing side. Also I felt that where the album sped up it became a little more bland, like some generic underdeveloped deathgrind. All that being said, I wouldn't consider this a bad album whatsoever when you add up its strengths, it's simply not that much of an interesting development over the prior releases. One could certainly still wrest some enjoyment out of this for those slogging, morbid melodic passages that populate a good percentage of the music, and it's loyal to its underground pedigree, but there have simply been a lot of similar efforts which bred more excitement and horror through their fleshy depths, and The Mortal Horizon's low end could have used some stronger support for its ghastly growls and ghostly melodies. Still solid, if my least favorite of the Desecresy outings so far.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com