Perceptive Deception

Disavowed’s debut album “Perceptive Deception” came out just in the nic the time when a lot of iconic bdm albums came out. The late 90s to mid-2000s were a breeding ground for many classic bands in the genre. For example Disgorge, Devourment, Cephalotripsy, Brodequin, and Pyaemia. Those are all bands that spawned the mid to late 2000’s era of slam and bdm. And Disavowed fit perfectly in that era. Making their debut full-length a cult classic in the scene.

Right away the massive Suffocation influence can be heard within this brutal album. This can also be compared to Pyaemia’s one and only album “Cerebral Cereal”. As that album was released in the same year as “Perceptive Deception”, a month after Disavowed dropped their debut. And because this band features members of Pyaemia. Regardless this album is extremely fast-paced and tight. It's ruthless, groovy, and blast-beat dominating. This album will absolutely cave your skull in with its frantic crawling riffs and inhuman gurgles. It doesn’t lose that edge whatsoever across this whole album.

While this album is heavily dominated by ruthlessly picked guitar riffs and blast beats. There’s a ton of groove and nice tremolos. “Reason Rejected” has tons of nice mid-paced riffing and dissonant chugging alongside the more intense blast beats. The riffs are also very technical at times. Going back to that Suffocation-like style of playing guitar riffs. I love how amongst all the blistering chaos the band manages to maintain a balance of rhythm and groove.

This record is very straightforward and blunt. There isn’t anything new that this record displays. But that’s what makes it insanely brutal. It's straightforward yet hooky enough to make this a very memorable and fun listen. This album also reminds me a lot of Inveracity. The band also utilizes some pinch harmonics here and there. Nice slam riffs are also integrated as well to make things groovier. I wouldn’t really say it’s breakdown-oriented or has some slow moments. The slowest it gets is during more mid-paced grooves. But mainly this album is just unrelenting fast-paced brutality.

The thing that really makes this fast and brutal is those goddamn drums. Holy fucking shit dude. The drummer for this band and the drummer for Pyaemia Robbert Vrijenhoek is fucking inhuman. His blast beats are absolutely insane and fast as fuck. Yet they are also very tight and precise. His double bass work is also crazy as fuck. His fast-paced drumming is unrelenting for the entire album. But he also manages to throw in some nice drum rhythms and beats to balance out that pure fast brutality he mainly uses.

Vocally this is very much like Frank Mullen (ex Suffocation). Robbe Kok has a very gnarly guttural style and is absolutely feral. Mainly he’s using that mid-range of growls and gutturals. He occasionally throws in a slightly higher-pitched shout or shriek. But mainly it’s that same intensity of his usual gutturals and gurgles. And it sounds fucking fantastic and brutal. Very much in homage to early Suffocation.

Finally, we got that production. The mix of this album is fantastic and fits perfectly within the 2000s bdm era. We got a nice crunchy and down-tuned guitar tone here. The type of tone that absolutely shreds and eviscerates you to bits. The drums have a perfect pop to them that makes them sound like a goddamn machine gun. The kick drums sound great as well. The bass isn’t as transparent but that isn’t a gripe necessarily for me. And the vocals fit well in the middle ground. Overall this album has a great mix that makes everything beefy and heavy.

In conclusion, this album is brilliant. It’s brutal, riffy, and very enjoyable to listen to. If you like brutal death metal of all types and styles this album is an essential listen. It’s got everything a death metal fanatic would want. Great riffs, a gnarly production quality, and a ton of fucking blast beats. So give this fucking thing a jam. A gnarly 2000s bdm album done perfectly. Fantastic shit.

FFO: Suffocation, Gorgasm, Inveracity, Pyaemia, Defeated Sanity, Deeds of Flesh, Severe Torture