Sermon of Apathy

It’s been quite a long time for Desolator, whiling away the years since 2013’s Unearthly Monument with just a lonely EP in 2016. However, all 4 members of the Swedish ensemble have plenty of other musical projects to keep them busy, so the lengthy gestation of Sermon of Apathy may not come as a total surprise. And, right from the promisingly detailed artwork from the in-demand Alexander Tartsus and the presence of guests Karl Sanders (Nile) and Oliver Palmquist (Phidion) on the long closing track, Desolator’s second album seems a step up from their earlier efforts. As expected, the style remains death metal of a traditional European/American mix, yet the scope of the music and its ideology seems to have grown during the break.

Though already suggested by the cover art, a hulking Lovecraftian misanthropy wells up from these 7 brutally intricate tracks, sweeping the listener along in a torrent of darkness, fury, and despair. A wonderfully tight production job balances all elements of the sound, forsaking old-school grime for the weight and clarity of an attacking yet nuanced approach that does crunching punishment alongside eerie atmosphere. Indeed, if Sermon of Apathy sounds rather un-Swedish at this point, that’s because the drier, less distorted guitar tone and monstrous deep roars point to other propositions like Vader and Immolation, with a touch of Bolt Thrower’s slower groove thrown in. Desolator prefer to hang back on pace, thrusting forward in alternating waves of ominous riffs and growls then melodic solos on ‘Methods of Self-Deception’, meaning that blastbeats form a small portion of Victor Parri’s percussive arsenal. The frantic opening of ‘The Human Condition’ provides a rare exception, yet even here the pace breaks to rolling grooves in under a minute.

Another element that pushes the menace factor above brutality is the occasional use of clean picking and smooth guitar shading that works almost like backing keyboards. The technique of dropping to ominous quiet parts or softening chords and rhythms with lighter melodies allows the album to encompass a greater dynamic range, which becomes more important as compositions head towards 6 minutes in average length. While a shorter cut like ‘Vaticide’ can thunder along with aggression pushed into orange and red levels for 4 minutes, opener and first single ‘Portal Tomb’ packs on the power at times but modifies the fury with rhythmic chugs and a calm slow bridge, something that also occurs with the lurking interludes on ‘Methods of Self-Deception’. ‘The Great Law of the Dead’, as a 9 minute closer, obviously represents a novel long-form approach for Desolator, dwelling on the introduction for a while before laying down oppressive melodies and a ceremonial atmosphere, culminating in a tumescent invocation of 7 terrible beings, from Cthulhu to Azathoth. The rising intensity of the song’s second half possibly represents the finest moment of Sermon of Apathy.

Where Desolator’s second full-length just slips slightly is in crafting enough memorable moments to match its conclusion. Few death metal fans will have complaints about the overwhelming sonic scale of ‘Creatures of Habit’, yet it seems unlikely that they will remember that much after the next track arrives. Likewise, ‘Adversarial Doctrine’ pleases with a catchy bout of boisterous Death-like riffing at the outset, though wavers in consistency later on. On the other hand, the greater attention paid to individual cuts shows an improvement over Unearthly Monument, when the same quartet opted for too many shorter songs and a lack of focus over the whole album. The overarching concept carried on throughout Sermon of Apathy needn’t occupy the total attention of listeners, though the congruity of atmosphere and technique aids in piecing together the songs into a fully unified 41 minute experience. For days when you hope that a disgusting monstrosity will awaken to slowly devour humanity, Desolator should be one of your first listening choices.